In the academic year 2004/05 the total number of pupils who studied a course, both in General and Special Regime, in the A.C. of the Basque Country was 435,554, which represents a 1% increase in the number of enrolments with regard to the previous year, according to Eustat data. Of these pupils, 329,947 were enrolled in infant, primary and secondary education, 72,394 in university studies, and, finally, 33,213 in specialised regulated education which includes dance, music, arts and crafts, sports and languages.

The number of registrations rose in all three provinces, led by Álava (3.5%), then Guipúzcoa with 1.7% and, finally, Bizkaia where there was a lower rise (0.3%).

3.2 % increase in pupils who studied at public education centres

In addition, with regard to the type of centre, in 2004-05 public centres accounted for a total of 259,320 pupils, the number increasing by 3.2% with regard to the year before. The levels where the highest increases were found were infant (16.4%), primary (2%), adult education (12%) and special education (3.1%). At other levels, baccalaureate, technical training and university studies, the number of pupils was lower in relation to 2003/04. Private centres underwent a reduction in enrolment of up to 1.5%, except for infant (5.6%) and medium level training (2,1%), where there were increases with regard to the year before. Other levels confirmed the negative figure for the total.

Special mention should be given to the rise in infant education due to the increase in the birth rate. The fundamental reasons may be summed up in two points; firstly, although it is not compulsory, over the last five years there has been an increased demand in first cycle infant education (0-2 years). And, in addition, on taking responsibility for the Department of Education, in this cycle new authorised centres have been included into the Basque public network, such as EMEI (Municipal Schools for Infant Education -Escuelas municipales de educación infantil).

42% of the population aged 18 and 19 study higher-grade technical modules

Comparing the schooling rates of the different Communities, we can see that the A.C. of the Basque Country leads the ranking at levels where education is non-compulsory. In primary and secondary compulsory education 100% of the population is school going at national level, as occurs in the Basque Country. It should be pointed out that in the Basque Country 38 out of every 100 children aged between 0 and 2 go to school. Higher grade technical training represents an important option among our pupils as 42% of the population aged 18 and 19 study a module of technical training, 19 points above the national average.

In pre-university education, 5 out of 10 pupils study in Basque

From a general viewpoint, basic education pupils mostly opt for model D for their studies; 26% study in model A and, finally, 23% study in model B.

The language model preference varies according to the education level referred to. At early levels, infant (64%), primary (55%) and compulsory secondary education (47%) model D heads the number of enrolments. On the other hand, in baccalaureate 5 out of every 10 pupils decide to study in Spanish. In Technical training model A is more popular, reaching 83% of pupils, in contrast with 15% of students who opt for model D.

Analysing the variation undergone by the different levels over the last five years, we can see that while model A decreased the number of enrolments at all levels, model D, on the other hand, was consolidated at all levels. We may conclude that the choice to study in Basque has undergone a gradual expansion, more pronounced at early education levels: infant and primary.

5.4% of the working population in our Autonomous Community work in the education sector

51,215 persons worked in the education system in the A.C. of the Basque Country during the academic year 2004/05, which represented 5.4% of the working population. Personnel were distributed between teaching staff, with 36,982 persons, 65% of which were women, and non-teaching staff with 14,233 persons. Universities accounted for 14% of teachers.