Page 88 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 88
ear ly school leaving: contempor ary european perspectives
programmes for students experiencing difficulties in compulsory
education. In addition, some territorial strategies are being imple-
mented by the autonomous regions, while an ongoing reform of the
education system is also expected to help lower ESL rates. Spain also
has in place education and career guidance in primary and second-
ary education and numerous other measures (prevention, interven-
tion and compensation strategies) that address the problem. In this
context, multi-professional teams operate in schools and are both a
legal obligation and a well-established practice.
Key words: Spain, ESL statistics, education, reform, tackling ESL
Introduction
In Spain, ESL is a well-known problem that is studied by institutions deal-
ing with it and academics from several disciplines (Enguita, Martínez, &
Gómez, 2010). ESL was already recognised as a pressing issue back in 1985,
although reducing ESL was only acknowledged as a specific objective in an
educational law in 2006. In October 2016, a new government was formed
in Spain that made tackling ESL and school failure some of the main ob-
jectives as part of its encouragement for the National Pact for Education
(Eurydice, n.d.). This aim of the article is to describe the state of affairs and
recent trends regarding ESL in Spain. Some characteristics of the Spanish
education system relevant to ESL are presented at the beginning (length of
compulsory education, transitions, streaming, recent reforms, grade reten-
tion etc.), followed by ESL statistics in Spain and some insights into redress-
ing ESL in the country.
Methodology
We draw information for this article from European documents (European
Commission – EC, Eurydice), Eurostat, ministerial documents on ESL and
other documents and reports available online (prepared by Spanish lo-
cal governments or institutions). A search for scientific articles was con-
ducted using the key words “ESL”, “ESLer”, “drop-out” and “Spain” in the
EBSCOhost database. A search was also conducted using the backward
procedure.
88
programmes for students experiencing difficulties in compulsory
education. In addition, some territorial strategies are being imple-
mented by the autonomous regions, while an ongoing reform of the
education system is also expected to help lower ESL rates. Spain also
has in place education and career guidance in primary and second-
ary education and numerous other measures (prevention, interven-
tion and compensation strategies) that address the problem. In this
context, multi-professional teams operate in schools and are both a
legal obligation and a well-established practice.
Key words: Spain, ESL statistics, education, reform, tackling ESL
Introduction
In Spain, ESL is a well-known problem that is studied by institutions deal-
ing with it and academics from several disciplines (Enguita, Martínez, &
Gómez, 2010). ESL was already recognised as a pressing issue back in 1985,
although reducing ESL was only acknowledged as a specific objective in an
educational law in 2006. In October 2016, a new government was formed
in Spain that made tackling ESL and school failure some of the main ob-
jectives as part of its encouragement for the National Pact for Education
(Eurydice, n.d.). This aim of the article is to describe the state of affairs and
recent trends regarding ESL in Spain. Some characteristics of the Spanish
education system relevant to ESL are presented at the beginning (length of
compulsory education, transitions, streaming, recent reforms, grade reten-
tion etc.), followed by ESL statistics in Spain and some insights into redress-
ing ESL in the country.
Methodology
We draw information for this article from European documents (European
Commission – EC, Eurydice), Eurostat, ministerial documents on ESL and
other documents and reports available online (prepared by Spanish lo-
cal governments or institutions). A search for scientific articles was con-
ducted using the key words “ESL”, “ESLer”, “drop-out” and “Spain” in the
EBSCOhost database. A search was also conducted using the backward
procedure.
88
