Pedro Sánchez announces plan to boost math and reading in schools
2024 Spanish budget to include funding for two of the most "difficult subjects"
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Sunday during the Socialist Party’s (PSOE) political convention that funds will be allocated in the 2024 budget towards a plan to strengthen math and reading for all schoolchildren in Spain, from primary to secondary school.
Spain’s education minister, Pilar Alegria, will meet with the National School Council to draw up a proposal.
“Despite students' efforts, there are difficult subjects such as math and reading,” said the Prime Minister during the party conference. He also stressed that the plan will target all students.
The news comes following the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which showed the worst results for Spanish students since 2000 when the PISA assessments began. Students fell behind the international average in reading comprehension, math, and science.
The 2022 PISA tests assessed the math, science, and reading comprehension skills of more than 700,000 15-year-old students in 81 countries around the world.
In response to the announcement, the conservative People's Party said that Sánchez's proposal "acknowledges the flaws" of the Spanish education model and argues that the system "needs extraordinary reinforcement."
PP sources said that the poor math and reading levels of students "is the responsibility of a socialist education model that promotes the law of least effort."
Catalan Education Minister Anna Simó gave a positive assessment of the plan announced by Sánchez. She said there was a "willingness to work bilaterally" with the Spanish government to improve results, but asked that Catalonia's autonomy be preserved.
"High schools must have enough flexibility to apply the new measures in the best way possible," Simó said.
Worse results in Catalonia
Catalonia's results in the 2022 PISA tests fell in all three areas of assessment, placing Catalan students below the average for Spain and other countries that form part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Catalonia obtained 469 points in mathematics, 21 less compared to the last tests carried out in 2018, the lowest score since 2006.
In science, Catalan students scored their worst results since 2003 with 477 points, 12 less than in 2018.
In reading, students scored their worst results since 2006 with 462 points, 22 less than in 2018, and only ahead of Andalusia (461), Melilla (405), and Ceuta (404) within Spain.