PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 EncyclopediaIn addition, there are several collaboration agreements between the Ministry of Educationand Science and the Education Advisory Boards of the autonomous communities forimproving school libraries.Overview of the Education SystemThe Spanish Constitution of 1978, in accordance with the autonomous territorial structureof the State, has allowed for a high degree of decentralization of education. The publicadministration is responsible for overseeing legislation, basic structure, and foreignrelations to guarantee the unity of the education system. The autonomous communitiesare responsible for all other aspects of the education system, such as financial management,and management of personnel, schools, and curriculum in their respective territories.The process of transferring responsibilities to the autonomous communities concludedin 2000. Subsequent education legislation has attempted to reconcile this distributionwith the inter-regional cooperation necessary to guarantee a coordinated effort indeveloping educational policies throughout the state. The Organic Law on Education of2006 guarantees the necessary basic homogeneity and unity of the education system andhighlights the broad legislative and executive frameworks available to the autonomouscommunities to achieve the goals of the education system. 2 The Law includes a proposalfor regional cooperation among the education authorities in order to develop projectsand programs of general interest, share information, and benefit from best practices.According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Education, public expenditureon education in 2006 totalled 43 million Euros (4.5% of the Gross Domestic Product).In 2004 this expenditure was distributed as follows: preprimary, primary, and specialeducation, 31%; secondary education, 30%; university education, 23%; special system ofeducation, adult and other education (initial vocational training, administration andassociated activities), 13%; and grants, 3%. 3In the 2005–06 school year, almost 7 million students were enrolled in all state andprivate schools in non-university education. In the 2004–05 academic year, the averagenumber of students per teacher was 14 in primary education, 11 in secondary education,and 12 in university education. 4SpainStructure of the Education SystemThe basic structure of the Spanish education system was established in 1990 by theOrganic Law on the General Organization of the Education System. 5 The system isorganized into stages, cycles, years, and levels of education. The levels of education arepreprimary (0 to 6-year-olds), primary (6- to 12-year-olds), compulsory secondary (12-to 16-year-olds), baccalaureate (16- to 18-year-olds), and vocational (intermediate level,16- to 18-year-olds, and higher level, over 18).Primary and compulsory secondary education form Spain’s basic education which iscompulsory and free of charge, and comprises 10 years of schooling, generally from ages6 to 16. Secondary education is divided into compulsory secondary education and postcompulsorysecondary education. The latter includes the baccalaureate, the intermediate396