EDUCATING JUANITA
A 763 word Article
By
Nick Snelling
EDUCATING JUANITA
As each year passes, examination results in the UK show a marked improvement indicating consistently improved teaching techniques or that the the genes of British children are replete with ever-increasing brilliance. Either way, it seems that the British education system is working well.
But what of somewhere like Spain which is an increasingly important relocation destination for parents with school age children?
In fact, Spain has a well regarded educational system not disimilar in rough outline to that of the UK. Education is compulsory from the ages of 6 to 16 with primary education (primaria) lasting 6 years followed by four years of compulsory secondary education (E.S.O.).
Spanish state education is free although parents must pay for their children’s school books at the start of each academic year. This can be expensive and cost around 350 – 400 Euros.
At the age of 16 a child should attain a Certificate of Completion of Secondary Education (Titulo de Graduado en Educación Secundaria) if they have passed their examinations. If they have not been successful then they will leave school with a Certificado de Escolarización. If a child has achieved their ‘Titulo’ then they can decide to:
The academically demanding Bachillerato takes two years and is roughly equivalent to UK ‘A’ Levels although it is considered to be more rigorous. There are several computations of Bachillerato each one of which is biased towards a given area, such as: the arts, humanities, natural sciences or technology. Some nine subjects are studied with the yearly exam results of each subject aggregated to provide an overall end of Bachillerato mark up to 10.
Unlike the UK, university qualifying examinations have to be taken. These are called Selectivo and over three days test students on seven or eight subjects that mimic their Bachillerato course. The results of Selectivo are then aggragated with a student’s Bachillerato score to provide a single overall mark, again up to a maximum of 10. This will define what subject a student can study at university.
For those children unable or unwilling to go to university there are a range of vocational courses (Ciclos Formativos). These last four years and provide nationally recognised qualifications, for example, for hairdressing, care work, electrical work or plumbing etc. The Ciclos Formativos are divided into two phases (the Grado Medio followed by the Grado Superior) both of which last two years.
Of course, like the UK, Spain has the full range of schools from semi-private through to fully private schools. There are also a scattering of international schools in which the British curriculum is taught in English. Interestingly, many of these schools sometimes have a higher percentage of Spanish children than internationals. This is due to the national pressure to learn English, which is the obligatory second language for all schools in Spain.
As with the UK, state secondary schools are ‘catchment sensitive’ so care needs to be taken when buying a property to ensure that the area chosen has a first class (and preferably personally recommended) school.
However, unlike the UK, some regions of Spain have schools that teach only or mostly in the local dialect. So, in Catalonia, Galicia, Valencia or the Basque country subjects are taught in respectively Valencian, Gallego, Catalan or Basque. This is not always the case but is something to investigate carefully - as it can mean that a child can be taught in the regional dialect before learning Spanish.
Almost invariably the cliche about children picking up languages easily proves to be true. However, there is a balance between the ability of a child to quickly learn a language and do increasingly complicated academic work at the same time. For children over twelve this can be a problem should they enter Spanish state schooling without a working knowledge of Spanish. So, the wise parent will normally place any children over twelve in an international school.
Importantly, in Spain children who do not pass their final year examinations have to repeat the year failed. This is no idle threat and a fine inducement to study hard!
Finally, and probably coming as no surprise, the results of school examinations in Spain have also shown annual improvements over the past few years. So, clearly, the teaching system is getting better at a similar rate to that of the UK – or, reassuringly, Spain also has a population of children with genes producing ever improving academic brilliance... Copyright Nick Snelling (www.nicholassnelling.com) author of three books on Spain including ‘How to Move Safely to Spain’ (www.movesafelytospain.com)
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