Press release 22.09.11
7.5% of students in the Basque Country in the 2009-10 academic year were foreign
77% studied in the classrooms of state schools
In the 2009-10 academic year, 31,990 foreign students enrolled in classes in the Basque Country, according to Eustat data, which amounted to 7.5% of total enrolments. Of these, 29,303 took courses in General Education and 2687 enrolled in Specialised Education Courses.
A total of 24,626 foreign students decided to enrol in a public centre in the Basque Country network, that is, 77% of the total, and the remainder, 7354, studied in private centres. This was 11% and 4.3%, respectively, of the total number of students in those centres.
With respect to the previous academic year, it is observed, in the first place, that there was an increase of 9.1%. Furthermore, this increase was apparent in all territorial areas, except in the territories of Valles Alaveses and Gernika-Bermeo, where insignificant decreases were noted.
By Province, Bizkaia had the greatest concentration of foreign students, with 51%, followed by Gipuzkoa (27%) and Araba/Álava (21%). In terms of districts, those that include the provincial capitals are noteworthy: Gran Bilbao (41%), Llanada Alavesa (20%) and Donostia-San Sebastián (13%).
As a significant figure, it should be emphasised that 50% of the total of foreign students were concentrated in the capitals, which were distributed as follows: Bilbao, with 22%, Vitoria-Gasteiz with 19% and lastly, Donostia-San Sebastián, with 9.4%.
The greatest number of foreigners were concentrated in Initial Professional Qualification Programs (PCPI) and in Adult Education (EPA)
When the distribution is made by education level, it can be established that the greatest representation of foreign students was in Initial Professional Qualification Programs (PCPI), with 32%, and in Adult Education, which had 24% of the total number of enrolments. The current proportion was noteworthy, but on a lesser scale, in Special Education, Medium-level Professional Training and Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO).
Four out of every 10 foreign students came from South America, specifically from Columbia, Bolivia and Ecuador
The majority of foreign students, 48%, came mainly from America, of which 43% were from South America, 4% from Central America and, lastly, just 2% came from North America.
The second group of students with the greatest presence in the classrooms of the Basque Country was that which comes from the African continent (27%), with a large representation from Morocco, with 14%.
In lesser numbers were those coming from Europe (19%), Asia (7%) and lastly, Oceania, which represented just 0.08% of foreign students.
The Basque Country occupies sixth place amongst the Spanish autonomous communities with the lowest percentage of foreign students.
The Basque Country is in sixth place amongst the communities with the lowest number of foreign students superseding just Ceuta (2.5%), Extremadura (3.2%), Galicia (3.5%), Asturias (5%) and Andalusia (5.4%).
Comparing our Autonomous Community with the Spanish average, it is 3 points below, both in total enrolments and in those students who enrol in general education. With regards to the percentage of students enrolled in special education, it is above average but only by a small amount, which does not reach one percentage point (0.8 pp.).
On the other hand, the Communities that have a greater number of students of other nationalities are: Balearic Islands (15%), La Rioja (14%) and Madrid (13%), with differences of 9, 8 and 7 percentage points, respectively, with the Basque Country.
For further information:
Basque Statistics Office
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tel:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.eus
Contact: Matxalen Plágaro Alonso
Tel:+34-945-01 75 99 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01
Further press releases on School Activity Statistics of the Basque Country
Database on School Activity Statistics of the Basque Country