Education In Spain: At The Bottom Of All The International Rankings
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Loading... - Sebastian Castro
- 24 Mar 2023
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TOPICS:European Commission OECDSpain Universities Spain's Education System
It’s normal to hear the phrase “we have the best educated generation in the history of Spain,” referring to young Spaniards. Which if it were true, would be totally unfair given that the youth jobless rate is beating all records, both compared with the EU and the OECD average. But it’s possible that this is another of those phrases which the Spaniards frequently come out with. But it has no real basis.
Because the truth is that all the figures and statistics related to education in our country paint a picture which is not just bad, but catastrophic…For example, the number of young Spaniards who don’t even have a high-school education, 35%, is double the OECD average. The average amongst the countries in that organisation is 16%, half of what it is in Spain. And it’s even lower in Portugal (31%). As the OECD says, we are on a level with Argentina or Colombia.
Professional Training is essential to provide momentum for the labour market. But in Spain this is below minimum levels (thousands of vacancies are not covered because there aren’t the right profiles available). Only 12% of young people in Spain are signed up for Professional Training versus the OECD average of 26%…And in the so-called dual training (in school and in the workplace), a key development from Germany, the situation is at the very least disastrous. Only 0.4% of secondary school pupils sign up for dual training. In the EU it’s 17%.
Spain is also amongst the leaders when it comes to pupils repeating courses, with a rate of 32%. The average in the OECD which, don’t let’s forget, includes countries outsided Europe, is 12.4%. In a crushing report by the European Commission, Spain was listed some months ago as the EU country with the biggest number of school dropouts.
According to the Shanghai ranking, Spain doesn’t have one university which is included in the list of the hundred best in the world, despite the fact it is the 12th most powerful global economy. Even Switzerland, with six million inhabitants, has 5 universities on that list. Our country is also the one which has the worst level of English in the EU – how embarrassing is that! – according to Cambridge University’s Monitor.
And that’s no coincidence. In the first place, this obviously has a lot to do with the low level of education spending in our country. This is a situation which, logically, got worse during the crisis years.
In line with Eurostat data published at end-August, Spain is at the tail-end in Europe in terms of investment in education. At the same level as Bulgaria and only ahead of Romania, Ireland and Italy (out of a total of 28 countries). Spain earmarks barely 8% of its public spending on education. The EU earmarks on average 10% and the OECD almost 12%. As a percentage of GDP it’s 4.1%, one of the lowest levels in the EU. Read More…
