Education in Spain is free from six to sixteen years; currently Spain’s education is called LOGSE or Ley de Ordenacion General del Sistema Educativo. Education in Spain started from the first level of Educacion Infantil or kindergarten, Educacion primaria or primary school, Educacion Secundaria or Secondary School, Educacion Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) or Compulsory Secondary Education, Bachillerato, and lastly the Higher Education.

In Spain all non-university state education is free, however the parents of ones student is responsible for taking all the materials needed particularly from books and more. Meanwhile Spain has also private institutions where parents are obliged to pay for the tuition fees monthly, termly, and yearly. Mostly, schools like these are manipulated by religious orders and there are even some schools which exclusively for single sex only. It is expected for every one of the student for the parent to spend a minimum of ninety pounds. However, in the other regions their government exchange tokens like books for free and other school materials especially to the autonomous regions, this event is already adapted since 2006 particularly in the region of Andalusia where the students’ ages from three to ten are given books for free, the public schools in Spain not necessarily wearing school uniforms, but mostly the private school worn it, so therefore it is easy to identify which student is enrolling from the public or private school.

In order for the student to continue their studies, they must achieve the certificate of completion at the end of their compulsory Secondary Education. Students who have high grades during this time are given a chance to apply for the different types of Bachillerato. After students graduated from this level of Bachillerato they can also avail the middle or superior Vocational Training which is called Ciclos Formativos de Grado Medio for middle or Ciclos Formativos de grado Superior for Superior getting a Technician Degree, there are actually more than 200 different specialties to get and its up for the students which education he/she is suited.

Engaging yourself in Spain’s education system seems confusing since there are many levels to achieve before you can hop to Spain’s University. Actually, for those students with good qualification and planning to continue their education with Spain’s University is obliged to pass the entrance exam which they called Selectividad, which consist of six examination good for three for each subject and another examination for History or Philosophy Foreign Language. School hours in Spain started from 9:00-12:30 and 3:30-5:00 p.m. for the Primary level they have also their full time which started from 9:00 to 4:00 p.m. that depends on the school policies. Although not all Spanish schools have dining areas for lunches, there are also some who have where they can take their lunches. On the other hand, the Secondary schools started from the hours of 8:15 to 2:30 p.m. annually. Generally, both schools have half an hour for a break starting usually at 11:30, and some Secondary Schools have two breaks of 15 minutes. Though Education system in Spain is quite strict all the effort is worth it since most of their students are learning.

ALONG with many countries in the world, public education in Spain is free until high school and it is compulsory as well. And since Spain is part of the European Union, Spanish high school students are also compelled to learn a second language which in most cases is English. Why is this so? Simply because urban and coastal cities in Spain are overwhelmed with tourists every summer. This is no more pronounced than in the next few years particularly in Valencia where two world sporting events are destined to be held there in 2008 and 2009; respectively.

In August 23 to 24, 2008, Valencia will share with Catalonia in hosting the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula One. The recent win by Spain’s very own McLaren driver Fernando Alonso in the Italian Grand Prix over the weekend only catapults this phenomenon. Hotels along the city’s thoroughfares which will be converted into a street racetrack are already fully booked. These include the luxurious hotels of Astoria and Westin. In 2009, the world’s premier sailing race, the America’s Cup, will drop by its shores again – an event which occurred earlier this year. Most of the fans of these twin sporting events are British and obviously, both the education and tourism ministries in Spain would love to showcase their youngsters learning English and as a consequence, be hospitable to tourists.

Educacion infantil or preparatory school in Spain is from three to five years old. This is divided into two stages – jardin de infancia for toddlers from 0 to three years old and the preescolar which is for children aged three to six years. This is not compulsory but the Spanish education ministry still makes the schooling free for the enrollees.

The next level is educacion primaria which is for children from six to 11 years and is divided into three cycles for two academic years each. This time, educacion primaria or primary education is compulsory.

After educacion primaria, the student takes up educacion secundario or high school from 12 to 16 years and all graduates of this program are recommended to take up the bachillerato or a comprehensive program of the four academic years in educacion secundario. The bachillerato has five options – arts, nature and health sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. The student merely chooses from one of the options although these five have common elective subjects which are Spanish language and literature, philosophy, physical education, Spanish history and human physiology. The arts option is focused on subjects such as sculpture and painting. The nature and health sciences are focused on basic sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics, earth science and mathematics. The engineering option is bent in technical drawing. The social sciences option is focused on economy, sociology and psychology. And the humanities subject is composed of Latin and Greek with a dash of history on art.

After graduating from the bachillerato, a student has three options – to work, to enroll in a vocational college or try one’s luck straight to university. The student can avail of a university degree depending on his bachillerato background. Thus, one can safely say that college students in Spain have taken academic programs which have interested them.