Number of foreign students in Murcia has risen by 36 per cent
More than half of the students have parents who come from Africa and Murcia has the highest proportion in all of Spain
The number of students of foreign origin continues to grow in the Region of Murcia throughout schools and institutes of education. Moreover, the Region continues to grow its number of foreign students at a much more vigorous pace than the rest of Spain.
The latest statistics from the Ministry, which check all the indicators of the Spanish educational system by autonomous communities, reveal that in the last decade, the increase in foreign students is close to 36%.
During this time period, the growth in the rest of Spain had been 30% according to the latest statistics. Almost two out of ten students in primary school in the region are foreign. This percentage is above the average and is only equalled by the communities of Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Aragon.
The ministry considers students to be foreign if they do not have Spanish nationality, which therefore includes many immigrants that come to Spain each year from all over the world.
Certain students are from the European Union, while a large number come from Africa. 50% are said to be from Africa in the Region of Murcia.
Furthermore, The Ministry reported "the presence of foreigners in the Spanish educational system has not stopped growing since the beginning of the century, being slowed only during the economic crisis of 2008 due to the impact it had on migratory flows.”
Moreover, public schools are responsible for the schooling of most of the students of foreign origin. Statistics from the Ministry of Education highlight that public schools in the Region have 87.1% of students of other nationalities enrolled, while in private schools they barely exceed 10%.
The contribution of students from other countries represents a challenge for educational centres, which demand more resources to adequately and effectively attend to students who arrive without mastering Spanish.
Many see the increase in children from outside of Spain as a positive because the migrants help correct the fall in birth rates that had already begun to empty the Infant and Primary classrooms in Spain.
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