Spain has introduced new national programmes aimed at improving student competence in mathematics and reading comprehension. The Ministry of Education has allocated nearly €95 million to the autonomous communities for this academic year. 

Given that improving students' competences in these areas is a top priority for the Spanish Government, the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports has launched two new programmes to address this challenge. On 18 September, the Ministry, autonomous communities, and experts held a meeting to discuss the details in these programmes. 

The programmes will be rolled out gradually. The reading comprehension programme will focus on basic education, which includes primary education, secondary education, and basic vocational training, starting with the final year of early childhood education. The mathematics reinforcement programme will begin in the third year of primary education and extend to secondary education and basic vocational training. These initiatives will first target schools with a high percentage of students facing significant challenges, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

To support these efforts, the Ministry has allocated nearly EUR 95 million to the autonomous communities this school year, EUR 64.8 million for mathematics and EUR 30 million for reading comprehension. Key actions will involve providing personalised student support through additional teachers, co-teaching and split classes. The programmes will also include teacher training in new methodologies and strategies for teaching reading and writing across various formats. Ongoing guidance will be provided to both administrators and schools, with particular attention given to addressing existing gender gaps—favouring girls in reading and boys in mathematics. 

These initiatives align with one of the seven European Education Area strategic framework targets for 2030, which aims to reduce the percentage of fifteen-year-olds with low performance in reading comprehension, mathematics, and science to below 15%. 

Recent results from PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS have highlighted a global decline in education performance, including in Spain. Contributing factors include disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in teaching methods, and existing educational inequalities, although the decline was evident before the pandemic. Addressing these issues through targeted measures is crucial for recovering lost learning and enhancing educational systems overall. 

Source: Eurydice Unit Spain