Local language lessons
As a nation with heartfelt, state-sanctioned regionalism,
Spain tailors its education to its autonomous
communities. Most mark their territory using language,
and the usual suspects diverge furthest from the norm.
In the Basque Country, despite Castilian still being the
language of choice among most of the populace,Euskara
is taught as the first language in four out of five state
schools. In Catalonia and Valencia the default use of
Catalan in schools reflects the wider usage of the
language at home, while Galicia also teaches its bright
young things the native lingo.
Lost in the crowd: higher education
University hopefuls, armed with theirbachilleratoand,
ideally, a foreign language, must negotiate Spain’s
application bunfight (universities here are oversubscribed)
before jumping through one final hoop, theselectividad
entrance exam. Around 1.6 million are currently studying,
a much higher slice of the population than the EU
average. Many can’t study their first choice subject and,
perhaps as a consequence, a large proportion drop out by
the end of their first year. Most attend local colleges and
live at home while studying, relying on part-time jobs and
parents for most of their funding. Studies occur in three
cycles: an initial three-year period must be completed
before a subsequent one or two years of study bags a
degree; the third cycle leads to a PhD. Non-university
(technical) colleges cater for vocational training, an area
the authorities are enthusiastically promoting in an effort
to reduce Spain’s surplus of qualified but not necessarily
work-ready graduates.
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- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Puttingel bacinto it
Thebachillerato
programme offers
students three areas in
which to specialise,
equating to science and
technology, humanities
and social science, and
the arts. Aside from
these core disciplines,
all students take a range
of common subjects
including Spanish
language and literature,
philosophy and a foreign
language. Students who
pass the finalprueba
general de bachillerato,
as well as exams set
throughout the course,
get to call themselves
bachilleres.
Cheap and cheerful
Spain’s 50 state funded
universities (there are
others, run by businesses
or the Catholic Church)
don’t contain an Ivy
League or Oxbridge
equivalent within their
midst, yet they do trace
their ancestry all the way
back to the learned aura
of the Moors. The oldest
university, Salamanca,
has been shaping minds
since the early 13th
century. In 2006, the
THES-QS World
University Rankings
contained just one
Spanish institution
within its top 200 list –
the University of
Barcelona, ranked 190th.
At least the fees in Spain
are significantly lower
than elsewhere.
