Exchange Report: The Dutch in Alicante

Some weeks ago some young people came to our high school from Eindhoven as part of an Exchange. We had to interview them to find out about their opinions of Spain, and if it was like they were expecting. We choose a few of them, and now we are about to show you the international view of Spain:

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT SPAIN, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND?

–Daan, 16: Sun, beach….. And hot girls

–Alexander, 16: Tapas , calamares, jamon serrano, and the beach….

–Spijk, 15: Not studying loads….. HAHAHA

WAS SPAIN WHAT YOU EXPECTED?

-Stella, 18: Yeahh, and much better

-Bouwe, 17: I was expecting sun, that it would be hot, the beach and (looks at his girlfriend) girls…

-Sanne, 17: Spain was one of the greatest trips I have ever been on, I just had a good time with my friends, both old and new ones. The good thing is that I didn´ t just make friends, I got to know new magic places.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE THE MOST?

-Muriel, 18: I really enjoyed the dance class, even though it didn´t actually go the way we all wanted…

-Willem, 16: I LOVED the rowing class, I was the captain of my…. What was it called in spanish?…VELA!! Right? That on

WE SAW YOU BOTH GETTING INTO THE WATER AT THE BEACH,WHEN THE SUN WAS ALMOST DOWN COMPLETELY, HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE?

–Jonathan, 16: YESSS, I will remember that for the rest of my life, it was VERY cold. I couldn´t feel my feet, I had to be wet for the rest of the day. The only thing I wanted after that, was to take a hot shower.

Thomas, 16: Jonathan has a tendency to exaggerate things. It was actually not that cold. I couldn´t leave Spain without having a bathe in the Mediterranean sea!

Bachillerato and University Guide

This report has the aim of helping students from 4th of ESO (Compulsury Secondary Education) and from first and second of bachillerato in their decisions about which way is better until going on to the professional world. It is important to do it well, because if you don’t you will pay for it later.

FOR THE STUDENTS FROM 4th OF ESO
The ESO degree is a basic one, you must get it if you want to continue with your studies. This degree opens the door to:
-A job
-A medium training cycle
-A bachillerato course

Both, medium training cycle and bachillerato, are needed to enter university. Sometimes bachillerato will be more useful and sometimes it will be the medium training cycle as in the case of CAFD (Sports university degree).
Cycles have a really big positive aspect: they prepare students in more specific way. This is a great thing if you are completely sure about your future.

FOR FIRST OF BACHILLERATO STUDENTS
It is a good idea to see this course as an opportunity for you. In this year, marks will count equally with the ones from second of bachillerato. As it is an easier course you should try to get higher marks so they push up your final mark for university.
Also it is important to get a good knowledge about all your subjects, so that second of bachillerato will seem easier.

There are several kinds of bachillerato: science, humanistic and artistic.
Depending on what you want to do in your future you will choose one or another. In addition to these ones, each bachillerato has different subjects that will give you more specific knowledge. For example; if you are interested in doing a university law degree you will do a humanistic bachillerato with specific subjects such as economics and maths. In the case you are interested in medicine, you will study science bachillerato and have subjects such as biology and chemistry.

There are five common subjects in all bachilleratos: Spanish, English, Valencian, CMC or history and tutor time. Remember that you can change from one bachillerato to another by passing the final exams of the subjects you haven’t done.

FOR THE SECOND OF BACHILLERATO STUDENTS
Advice: Stay organised! It’s really important to control what you are doing and control the time you waste on things. If you do it well, it will help you in the pau exam.
After getting the bachillerato degree you have the option of doing PAU and starting your university career, but it’s also possible to join a sport or art school. These schools prepare students specifically to do some kind of job, for in a sport school, you will probably end up as a football trainer.
To join these schools you must pass an exam that each school will set. The degrees you get in this kind of school are practically considered the same as a university degree.
To enter the university, you have to pass bachillerato and also PAU (University Access Exam) and to study the degree of your choice, you must get the minimum mark asked for.

PAU (UNIVERSITY ACCESS EXAM)
The structure of University Entrance Examination consists of two parts (General Phase and Specific Phase):

· General Phase

-compulsory
-it consists of 4 common subjects and 1 subject from the student’s branch of knowledge
. Common subjects:

-Spanish Language and Literature
-Valencian Language and Literature
-Foreign Language (German, French, English, Italian or Portuguese), to be chosen by the student (regardless of the language taken in Bachillerato)
-History of Philosophy or History of Spain (to be chosen by the student)
-Subjects chosen by the students from their branch of knowledge:

any of the subjects taught in the 2nd year of Bachillerato in the branch of knowledge of their choice.
It defines the field of knowledge for which students show preference in the case of a draw.

· Specific Phase

-on a voluntary basis
-it consists of subjects related to the studies intended to be taken by the student
-it allows students to raise their final mark to enter university studies
-students are allowed to take a maximum of four subjects
-it will be taken into account if students get a mark equal to or higher than 5 points.

We hope this report has been useful for high school students.

– by Patricia and Cristina

Wert Law (Education Reform)

The LOMCE is the new law that the government of Mariano Rajoy has approved in Congress. That law is supported by the minister of education, José Ignacio Wert, because that minister is known as Ley Wert in spanish. He thinks that the law will improve the efficiency of the education system. That law introduces a lot of changes into the education system for example:

+ At the end of Eso and Bachiller there will be an exam. If you don’t pass it, you cannot go on with the studies.

+ In 4º of ESO, the children will have to choose between Bachiller and FP.

+The core subjects which are designed by the government will have greater importance. In primary education the core subjects will be: natural science, Social Science, Maths, Spanish Language and First foreign language. In secondary school the core subjects will be: Biology and Geology, Physics and Chemistry, Geography and History, Spanish Language and Literature, First Foreign Language and Maths.

+The subject Religion will be given an academic value.

+One of the objectives is to revitalize the choice of professional learning. In order to achieve that, the government will adjust professional training. (FP)

+The law gives more power to the headteacher, at the expense of the school board

+High Schools will have more autonomy.

+The education system will have to take account of parents because they are the ones who have to educate their children.

+The number of places is organized in response to the existing supply of public, private and charter schools and social demand.

+With the new law, it is possible build private school on public land. That means that a private school doesn’t have to pay for the land.

+ The school can be only for girls or only for boys.

The changes that this law introduces in primary are:

+The three cycles of two courses will be six courses without subdivision in cycles.

+The “Conocimiento del Medio” subject will be divided into Natural Science and Social Science, and Citizenship Education will be removed. Artistic Education will be an optional subject and an option between Religion and Social and Civics Values will be introduced.

+Two individualized evaluations will be made (at the end of 3rd of primary and at the end of the primary education). The first one will be made by schools and the second one will be made by the

Government.

+If the student doesn’t pass the evaluation, the teaching team will act as required.

In secondary school the only important change is that at the end of 4º of ESO there will be an evaluation by the Educative Administration to obtain the graduation title of the Secondary Education. Core subjects will be tested.

In my opinion, I think that this law shouldn’t be approved because it is unbalanced. On one hand the law has things that can be good, but other things that can be bad. I think that what the government wants and specifically Wert is that people cannot study as easily so as to make it easier to govern and handle politically, because people will not be able to form a critical opinion with respect to what happens around them.

It is not right that subjects like music will disappear, because the music helps as much as maths and many other things. This law will damage teaching because it will cut off the money meant for education. Finally, Wert has no guarantee that the European Union will give him the money needed to apply the new law.

– by Sergio and Elisabeth

Private or State school

Private or State school

Firstly we have to explain the diferences between all the types of education which exist in Spain:

State school:Is secular institution, funded and managed by the government with help from local authorities in each area. They usually offer all of the levels of compulsory basic education (kindergarten, primary and secondary school, although the upper levels are delegated to other public schools).

“Concertados”: Are private centers (not created by the administration) but heavily subsidized by the central government. Financed in part by subsidies and other payments from parents.

Private school: There is privately funded education, paid for exclusively by the parents of students. They have complete freedom of management and certain freedoms in the curriculum, within limits set by the government. The limited admission and access to them depends on the conditions and criteria established by the school itself.

In the past, during Franco’s dictatorship, the majority of schools were private and students were separated according to their sex. Religion was a compulsory subject, as it was an important part of society. Both state and private education had the objective to provide a Catholic education and for this reason the main Catholic orders were responsible for teaching, thus most schools were in the private sphere.

Transition to democracy

Following the government of Franco, and the beginning of democracy, public education became more important and religion remained in the background and was optional, the number of public schools increased, and they were mixed-sex.

Compulsory education was established from 6 to 16 years of age, free of charge, as well as the establishment of the provision of aid to families with financial difficulties to pay for school expenses. Training courses for adults were introduced with the goal of extending education to the entire population.

Problems arise when education is not successful. Spain has a high index of school failure amongst school leavers. To this is added that in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008, the current government has decided to make a series of reductions in public education, which hurts future generations workers because “education is not an expense but an investment.”

The problem was heightened during the last few years, cuts in education increased, grants were abolished and increased the number of students per classroom, so a key to the country’s development sector, classes are full to the brim, the number of teachers is indirectly proportional to the number of students.

Is this what we want for the future of our country? Is it what we want for our children? If we want the situation to change, you have to take drastic measures, starting with a change in the education system, because public education is a right, not a luxury which only a minority of the population can afford. So we encourage you to support action and learn about the current situation in order to take sides in the future of our children.

– By Max and Esme