|
In Spain, there are a wide range of
private schools, there are parochial
schools, international schools,
bilingual schools, American Schools and
British schools. Most are co-educational
and between them they educate just over
one third of all children in Spain.
Most are catholic day schools but some
British and American schools take weekly
or full term boarders. Private schools
follow the same pattern as the state
schools, operating a Monday to Friday
timetable, with no Saturday morning
classes.
It is generally believed by many
foreigners that all private schools in
Spain are under foreign ownership and
control. Not so. There are numerous
Spanish Private schools teaching wholly
in Spanish and of these, many are
subsidized by the State. Some
international schools are also
subsidized and follow the Spanish
state-school curriculum. Others are also
state-subsidized and follow a bilingual
English/Spanish curriculum and are
authorized to accept Spanish pupils.
If a private school is to receive a
state subsidy and be able to accept
Spanish students, at least 25 per cent
of a school's total number of pupils
must be Spanish and have at least 20 per
cent in each class. Conditional on
receiving state funding is that schools
with Spanish children accept inspection
by the Spanish school authorities.
As with private schools anywhere, fees
in Spain vary considerably and are
determined by many factors among which
are: reputation, quality, location,
examination results and probably the
most relevant of all - what the market
will stand. However, in regard to the
cost of private education in the UK and
USA, fees for private schools in Spain
can be described as moderate, if not
low. As you would expect, schools in
major cities, particularly Madrid and
Barcelona are among the most expensive.
If you send your child to a subsidized
Spanish school, you should expect to pay
in the region of 600 Euros per annum or
just under £400 sterling. An independent
foreign school will set you back
anywhere from 1800 euros (£1150.00) to
over 6,000 euros (£4,000.00) -
particularly where pupils are boarding.
In many cases there are a host of extras
to contend with such as books, meals,
insurance, laundry, transport,
excursions etc. If a child is
particularly bright, it may be possible
under certain circumstances to obtain a
grant or for a scholarship to be awarded
if the parents find they have
difficulties in meeting the schools
financial requirements.
British and American private schools may
have smaller classes and a more relaxed
regime and curriculum than Spanish state
schools. Further, they often provide a
much more varied approach to sport,
culture and art and offer a wider choice
of academic subjects. Most of the
private schools that advertise on the
Internet claim that their aim is the
development of each child as an
individual and the encouragement of his
unique individual talents. The results
from many of these schools indicate that
this policy is successful in that they
have a very high university placement
rate.
On the other hand, consider this: if you
have taken your children to Spain in
order to create a better life for them,
do you really want to isolate them from
the very thing you are trying to
achieve? One of the disadvantages of
educating children in foreign private
schools is that they grow up in Spain as
cultural illiterates, experiencing
difficulty with true integration into
Spanish society.
Worse still, often they have no
recollection of society in their own
country. Private Schools will deny that
this happens or make light of it but
they would, wouldn't they. In fairness,
some private school do recognize this
problem and have programmes designed to
bring their pupils into contact with the
real Spain and its culture.
When it comes to the education of any
child, there is much to consider. Your
move to Spain will require careful
thought in regard to your child's
education because if you get it wrong
the result will be his to carry for the
rest of his life. Happily, most parents
seem to get it right. |
