Spain / A crisis education reform

Spain’s government has approved an emergency reform of the crisis-hit education sector, hoping to reduce the number of school dropouts and curb the soaring youth unemployment rate.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the plan aimed to improve young people’s job prospects at a time when unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 has surpassed 57 percent, and 25 percent of Spaniards drop out of school early.

“We need an urgent remodelling of the whole education system, because we cannot permit such levels of failure, dropping out and youth unemployment,” she told a news conference.

The plan was approved at a cabinet meeting on Friday and is due to be debated in parliament, where it is likely to pass as the governing Popular Party holds an absolute majority.

Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert called it “one of the most important reforms on the government’s agenda”.

Saenz said Spain’s 25-percent school dropout rate is double that of other European Union countries. Nearly 24 percent of Spaniards aged 16 to 29 are neither working nor studying, she said.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Spain approves crisis education reform – The Local.

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Espagne / Une réforme l’éducation pour contrer le chômage

Le gouvernement espagnol a approuvé vendredi une réforme controversée du système éducatif, déjà frappé par des coupes budgétaires. Son espoir: lutter contre le chômage record des jeunes dans un pays où l’abandon scolaire dépasse de loin celui de ses voisins européens. “Nous avons besoin d’une refonte urgente de tout le système éducatif car nous ne … Lire la suite »