Joshua Benitez

Spain Status of Education

Greetings to all of my fellow members of the committee. I thank you all for giving me the
opportunity to address the United Nations as an educator, citizen, and representative of
Spain. Spain has been gradually making positive strides in the social, economic, and political
aspects. A tremendous part of these improvements, have been directly related to reforms in
education. School enrollment has risen, students are continuing their higher education
further, and the percent of female students have drastically increased since the late 70s.
However, with all the success that our proud country of Spain owes to the education reforms,
there have been a few short comings as well. The goal through higher education practices and
standards give many positive attributes back to the nation. More educated citizens create a
higher educated work force. Citizens overall become more involved in politics, as well as
make better educated decisions for the common welfare. As the people become more
educated, the country as a whole becomes more educated.
An important emphasis Spain has prompted was to expand the access to education. Barcelona
in particularly has targeted younger children entering school at little to no cost to the
parents. This plan works to enroll 90% of Spains students by the age of 4 into early education
services. (Kamerman, 2005) While students enter the education field earlier, parents with
young children will be able to work longer and earlier, increasing the population and output
within the workforce.
Children entering education as early as 4 will prepare the student for further educational
experiences.( Kamerman, 2005) Literacy and writing practices will prepare the student for
further success. The children will continue their education from an early age, and eventually

have the skills to become a driver for social, political, and economic success within not only
the country of Spain, but the world.
This graph shows the amount in spending towards education the country of Spain has
increased from 1989-2014.

The improvement
in access to
education not only
weighs in through
the students, but
also with the
teaching
workforce. We had
to improve the quality of education the students were receiving and to do this, we had to
start with the teachers. Giving teachers better incentives would provide a better means of
motivating them. Better benefits and higher wages have always been fought for and
negotiations will go on forever. The demand for more educated teachers was a major priority.
Many districts now require certain degrees for specialized classes. As teachers are better
prepared to educate, the students will receive higher education practices; as a result,
provide a better prepared workforce, community, and population in the future.
Aside from preparing students to become better educated, a goal was enacted to prepare the
students to become better overall citizens. Good citizenship may be displayed by fostering
global citizenship. Examples of this are forging more just, peaceful, and tolerant students.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments (OECDs) created some ideas
to create the ready student. Developing effective school leaders within the classrooms,

implore better means of cooperation and understanding within the student body, and prepare
the teachers to deliver 21st Century skills. (Schleicher, 2012)

In this graph, we can see the estimated population in schools and the levels of education they
will receive by year in Spain.
Thank you for all here at the UN Secretary meeting for allowing me present these findings
with you. I thank you for your time and patience. It is my belief that education should be a

priority for all nations, and not an issue. With your help cohesiveness, I know that all nations
including Spain can continue working towards not only higher education, but better education
practices.
CitationsWeb
OECD Publishing (NJ1), 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2016, from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED533757
Early Childhood Education and Care in Advanced Industrialized Countries: Retrieved November
08, 2016, from https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-142967397/early-childhoodeducation-and-care-in-advanced-industrialized
Graphs
Authors, B. F. (n.d.). Human Capital and Sustainability. Retrieved November 08, 2016, from
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/3/1/97/htm
Retrieved November 08, 2016, from http://theconversation.com/oecd-figures-are-not-whatthey-seem-in-higher-education-60786