Support to tackle early school leaving and promote school success in Spain

The Commission is providing technical support to the Spanish Ministry of Education and VET to design an Action Plan aimed at tackling early school leaving (ESL) and promoting school success in all Spanish regions. The project is expected to lead to a more effective, streamlined and collaborative approach to address and prevent ESL, in line with the requirements of the new Education Law (LOMLOE), adopted by the Spanish Government in December 2020.

Context

Spain has made significant efforts to reduce the high ESL rates, which have fallen considerably in recent years. In December 2020, the Spanish Government approved a new Education Law (LOMLOE), which aims to enshrine a more inclusive approach to school performance. The law further foresees the development of a more coordinated approach to prevent ESL, through the deployment of (strengthened) territorial cooperation mechanisms. In order to take stock of existing initiatives and instruments and identify a clear way forward, the Spanish Ministry of Education and VET requested technical support from the European Commission to design an Action Plan adapted to the national context.

Support delivered 

The technical support is being delivered through:

• an assessment of the current situation, including the existing policy framework and best practices among Autonomous Communities;
• a comparative analysis of relevant policy frameworks and programmes in other EU Member States;
• a targeted stakeholder consultation, structured into several thematic working group discussions;
• workshop reports highlighting the key issues discussed;
• an action plan detailing concrete policy reform options to address ESL in Spain, and promote school success;
• an awareness campaign, to disseminate the results of the project to a wider audience. 

Results achieved 

The project will lead to the identification of concrete, evidence-based reform options to tackle ESL in Spain, based on national and international good practices, and a structured stakeholders’ consultation. Above all, the project shall propose concrete ways in which Spain could be strengthening existing territorial cooperation mechanisms, including for the sake of disseminating best practices among Autonomous Communities, and supporting individual school initiatives.

More about the project

You can read the final report here: