The academic year 2005-06 saw 368,976 students in some type of non-university education in the A.C. of the Basque Country, which meant a 1.6% increase in matriculation in relation to the previous academic year, according to Eustat data. Of these, 336,046 pupils were enrolled in Infant, Primary and Secondary Education, and 32,930 students took courses within Regulated Specialised Education, including Dance, Music, Arts and Crafts, Sports and Languages.

By province, a total of 53,875 students were enrolled in Álava, 195,523 in Bizkaia and in the province of Gipuzkoa a total of 119,578 students were registered. There was a notable increase in the number of students in all three provinces, led by Álava (2%), followed by Bizkaia with 1.7% and finally, by Gipuzkoa where there was a smaller rise of 1%.

Matriculation increased in infant and primary education, both in public and private centres

As regards the type of administration in 2005-06, public centres received a total of 206,490 students, an increase of 1.8% as regards the previous year. The levels where the largest increases were registered were in Infant (5%), Primary (3%) and Adult Education (6%). In the other levels, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Specialised Education, student numbers were lower than in 2004/05.

Privately-run centres, with a total of 162,486 students, also saw a rise in matriculation, with 1.4% more than in the previous year. The levels where the rise was most noteworthy were Infant (8%) and Specialised Education (5%). They were followed, with a smaller increase, by Primary, with 0.9% and Middle-Grade Vocational Training (0.5%). On the other hand, in the other levels, which is to say Secondary and Higher-Grade Vocational Training, there was a decrease.

Half of the students were educated in Basque

In 2005-06, 163,054 students were educated in Basque, accounting for 53% of the total. The next most requested option was model A with 74,125 students (24%), followed by model B with 71,284 students (23%). 1,846 students in 2005-06 carried out their studies in centres where Basque was not compulsory, which is to say 0.65% of the total.

Distribution of non-university students by administrative type and level (%). 2005/06

Source: EUSTAT.

Preference for one or other linguistic model varied according to the educational level concerned. At the earliest levels, Infant (66%), Primary (56%) and Compulsory Secondary Education (48%), model D had the greatest number of enrolments, In Baccalaureate on the other hand, there was a balance between students enrolled in model A and in model D, with 52% and 45.9% respectively. In Vocational Training there was an increase for model A, which accounted for 80% of students, in sharp contrast to the 18% of students who opted for model D.

Students obtained the best results at all levels

In 2004-05 41,190 pupils passed Primary, which is to say 82% of the total; In Compulsory Secondary Education this figure was 43,305 pupils, representing 61%; in Baccalaureate, 20,750 successfully completed their studies (68%) and finally, in both cycles of Vocational Training, 10,643 students passed, an average of 82%.

When we analyse the data by sex, we see that girls achieved better results at all levels. In general there was around one point difference as regards boys. Most notable were the results in Middle-Grade Vocational Training where girls were two points ahead.

Passes by level, administrative type and sex (%).

Source: EUSTAT

As for the type of administration of the centres, public or private, results were very similar for both. It is worth mentioning that more students studying in the latter passed in Compulsory Secondary Education and at Baccalaureate. But on the other hand, comparing results with the previous year, 2003-04, students in public centres showed better evolution, with higher growth in the number of passes at the levels where the differences were greater: Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalaureate and Middle-Grade Vocational Training.

Total figures showed the percentage of passes in 2004-05 to be better than the previous year.

4.8% of the employed population of our Autonomous Community worked in the Education Sector

46,100 people worked in the non-university levels of the education system of the A.C. of the Basque Country over the academic year 2005/06, representing 4.8% of the employed population. Personnel was distributed between teaching staff, a total of 32,337 people, of which 70% were women, and non-teaching staff, with 13,763 people.