Falling behind: the future of education

At a time of few certainties other than a worsening economic situation, the right to universal, free education seems beyond question - at least for the moment. Esperanza Aguirre, the head of the Popular Party-run regional government of Madrid raised the specter of limiting access to studies this week when she said: "education is free at some levels, but it doesn't necessarily have to be so in others."

Bearing in mind that the Popular Party is set to win the November elections, her comments were immediately seized on by the media as offering an indication of the future national government's education policy. She later clarified her words, saying that she was referring to funding for Master's degrees, which was subsequently confirmed by her education secretary Lucía Figar. But as any university student will know, as in other European countries, Master's degrees have never been either obligatory, or funded. In fact, Spain only guarantees free, universal access to education between the ages of six and 16.

The Popular Party's central office insists that it backs the Constitution's commitment to free access to education. For the moment, the state will continue to provide free access to students studying to enter university, as well as to infants aged between three and six.

The question now, it seems, lies in establishing up to what point education is free, and what role the state is prepared to play in funding it beyond that; in other words, nursery care up to the age of three, and university education, which the state subsidizes by up to 80 percent.

Free access to the earliest stages of education has been gradually increased over the years, but is still not guaranteed. The policy allows mothers access to the labor market, but is also backed by many educationalists.

Mariano Fernández Enguita, head of Madrid's Complutense University sociology department, says that the jury is still out on why children who attend school early do better in their careers than those kept at home until six.

"It's about statistics. We need to see if people who do well do so because they are educated from an early age, or whether it is about the kind of parents who send their children to school early, and who help their children throughout their education," he says.

Some Scandinavian countries such as Finland, which always score highly in international educational rankings, don't begin schooling until the age of seven, but provide generous time off from work for parents to bring their children up until that age.

On the question of whether children should be obliged to remain in school until 16, a growing number of teachers and educationalists say that adolescents who do not want to study can be disruptive in the classroom and hold others back: it would be better to find something else for them to do.

Mejora tu Escuela Pública (Improve Your State School) is a recently established platform campaigning for higher standards and for schools to be given greater autonomy. "This is the only way for the system to meet the wide variety of needs of those who cannot afford to pay for their education," says its president, Juan José Nieto.

The European Union wants to see 85 percent of the population graduate from high school. "If that is our goal, then we have to make sure that education remains free to all. The problem is that in Spain, we are still a long way from reaching that kind of figure: at present only around 60 percent of kids attain a high-school diploma," says Fernández Enguita.

Junior high, high school and then university would be the ideal route through education. But the reality is that only 40 percent of students make it to university in Spain according to the OECD. Juan José Dolado, a professor of economics at the privately run Carlos III University in Madrid, says that attending university in Spain is still a viable option, even for students from low-income families. "Tuition fees are around 8,000 euros for a degree program, and students pay around 10 percent of that cost," he points out.

But it is the middle classes who most benefit from subsidized education, not the poor, says Julio Carabaña, a professor of educational sociology at Madrid's Complutense University. "The benefits of a university education are mainly in terms of an individual's career, rather than for the rest of society, although of course it does influence the kind of society we have," says Carabaña.

That said, he doesn't want to change things. "There are arguments for increasing the cost of tuition fees, while at the same time providing grants for those who really need them, but that is a complicated approach, and is probably not worth the effort. Establishing a family or an individual's ability to pay is difficult. What's more, the argument that the rich should pay more is undermined when the children of the wealthy reach 18 and become independent, and poor. I think that some payment is necessary to avoid abuse and wasting resources, but I am in favor of cheap education," he says.

The Spanish education system is similar to those in mainland Europe, but differs to that in the United Kingdom, where tuition fees are high. When David Cameron took over as prime minister last year, he decided to triple the cost of tuition fees to 10,200 euros. In response, students took to the streets, staging protest marches that were violently dispersed by the police. Students in the United Kingdom are eligible for low-interest, long-term loans to cover the cost of their tuition fees

In Spain, a number of changes to the way higher education is funded are up for debate. Mariano Fernández Enguita, head of Madrid's Complutense University sociology department, is in favor of higher tuition fees, along with grants and financial support for those who need them and have talent.

"Higher education is attended by a minority, who then go on to earn up to 30 percent more than those without a degree. So I think that it is perfectly reasonable to ask whether the rest of society should pay for that. The solution to allowing the talented to attend higher education but who lack the money to do so is through a loans system," he says.

Juan José Dolado says that a lot of money is being wasted providing university access to students that have no real intention of obtaining a degree. "The university dropout rate is around 30 percent. If we have paid around 14,000 euros to that student in terms of subsidies, and he or she then drops out, then that money has been of no real benefit to society as a whole.

"The amount wasted depends on what we might call the diploma effect, that is to say, on the number of people who obtain a degree. That can cost between 1 billion and 3 billion euros a year, more than the government hopes to raise through the newly reinstated inheritance tax," he points out.

"At the same time, we allocate very little spending to grants. Our neighbors spend around 0.30 percent of GDP: we spend less than 0.1 percent. Increasing tuition fees wouldn't be a step back if we increased grants to those with the talent but not the means to attend university. What is unacceptable is a situation whereby somebody takes 12 years to finish a degree program."

Education Minister Ángel Gabilondo said in May that by 2013, the government intends to move toward a system whereby students who take longer to finish their degrees, or who have to repeat courses are obliged to pay, and to reward those who finish in time with a financial bonus.