\ The IAQSE has published a preview of the statistics on schooling and academic results for the 2020-2021 academic year.
\ In primary education, the repetition rate drops from 3.5 % to less than 1 % and in secondary education, from 9.5 % to 3.8 %.
\ Secondary dropout rate decreases from 23.2 % in 2016-2017 to 11.5 % in 2020-2021
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\ Enrolment grows at all levels, especially in vocational training and distance learning, and remains stable in pre-primary and primary education.
The Institute for the Evaluation and Quality of the Education System (IAQSE) has published a report on enrolment statistics and academic results of non-university general education for the academic year 2020-2021. This report also includes the evolution over the last five school years, which provides information on the evolutionary trends in the period between 2016 and 2021, both in terms of the number of students enrolled and assessed as well as the academic results in the different areas or subjects, the suitability, and the promotion and graduation of these students. The full report is available on the IAQSE website (http://iaqse.caib.es).
With regard to the data shown in the report, the Director-General for Planning, Organisation and Centres, Antoni Morante, considers it particularly noteworthy that the academic results maintain the positive trend of recent years in all the indicators analysed (reduction in the rates of grade repetition and dropout or the increase in promotion and graduation) and clarifies that “despite the distortion that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused in the normal functioning of educational centres over the last two years, the joint work between the administration, centres, schools, teachers, students, teachers and the general public has been particularly noteworthy, the joint work between the administration, schools, teaching staff and, in general, the entire educational community, has favoured a favourable environment for schools to be able to do what they do best”.
Morante stresses that “these indicators place us for the first time in the Spanish average, and consolidate a continuous trend of improvement to which, without doubt, the increase in the number of teachers and the improvements in educational infrastructures contribute, as well as the accompaniment and reinforcement programmes for students, the increase in the educational offer and the promotion of post-compulsory education, especially vocational training, in addition to actions to improve educational connectivity and innovation”.
Highlights
One of the highlights of the report is that the last school year, 2020-2021, consolidates the improvement in results that occurred in the previous year in primary education, in which the percentages of promotion to the next grade are above 97% in all grades. There has also been an improvement in the evolution of academic results in compulsory secondary education and in baccalaureate studies.
Particularly noteworthy is the decrease in the repetition rate, which fell significantly in the 2017-2018 academic year and will continue to fall in 2020-2021. Thus, in primary education, the average rate will fall from 3.5 % in 2016-2017 to less than 1 % in 2020-2021 and in secondary education, from 9.5 % in 2016-2017 to 3.8 % in 2020-2021.
Another aspect to highlight is the progressive reduction in the dropout rate in ESO, which can be seen by comparing the loss of enrolment between students who started first grade in 2014 and finished fourth grade in 2018. In the 2014-2015 academic year, there was a 23.2 % loss compared to those who started the stage four years earlier, while in the 2020-2021 academic year, the loss was 11.5 %, the lowest value of the period. (Graph 1)
This improvement is particularly noteworthy if we take into account another piece of information in the report: the upward trend in school enrolment in the compulsory stage, which is most evident in Mallorca and in Ibiza and Formentera as a whole. An important part of this growth is due to the arrival of foreign pupils. It should be remembered that the Balearic Islands is the autonomous community with the highest percentage of foreign pupils, with 15.4%. Bearing in mind that in most indicators the average results of foreign pupils are lower than those of the rest of the pupils, the line of progressive improvement that has been maintained in recent years is considered particularly positive.
School enrolment
In the 2020-2021 academic year there were a total of 186,602 pupils enrolled in kindergarten, primary, secondary, baccalaureate and vocational training. In the 2016-2017 academic year there were a total of 176,137 students. In these five academic years, the school population in the Balearic Islands grew by 10,465 students, from 176,137 students to 186,602, which represents an increase of 5.6 %.
By stages, in the 2020-2021 school year there were 38,698 pupils enrolled in the infant education stage, which is not compulsory schooling. This figure represents a reduction of 2,638 pupils compared to the previous academic year, 2019-2020. In the first cycle (0-3), with 7,397 pupils, a large part of the population is not enrolled, while in the second cycle (3-6), the enrolment rate is close to 100 % with 31,301 pupils.
A drop of 1,512 pupils is also detected in relation to the 2019-2020 academic year in the primary education stage, with a total of 70,347 pupils enrolled.
Thus, in the full perspective from the academic year 2016-2017 to 2020-2021, there is a stabilisation of enrolment with 0.5 % in pre-primary and 0.1 % in primary education. It should be noted that, in the period between 2016-2017 and 2020-2021, in the first four years in the infant and primary stage there was an increase in enrolment and that the decrease was concentrated in the last year, 2020-2021. This difference is especially notable in the infant stage, given that in the 2019-2020 academic year there were 41,336 students enrolled and in 2020-2021 there were only 38,698, a drop of 2,638 students. At primary level the difference is smaller, with a drop from 71,859 pupils to 70,347.
On the other hand, in the rest of the stages, with the exception of basic vocational training (FP), which remained the same, there was a clear increase in enrolment each year. In the case of compulsory secondary education, from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021 there was an increase of 15.1 %, from 43,678 students to 48,812, while in baccalaureate there was an increase of 10.2 %, from 12,037 students to 13,265. Enrolment in the distance learning baccalaureate is particularly noteworthy, which grew by 41 %, from 770 students in the 2016-2017 academic year to 1,086 in the 2020-2021 academic year.
The growth in vocational training was notable in the intermediate (GS) and higher (GS) cycles, while basic vocational training remained stable. Thus, there was a 32.4% increase in the GM cycles, from 6,634 students in the 2016-2017 academic year to 8,782 in the 2020-2021 academic year, and a 28.8% increase in the GS cycles, from 1,663 to 2,482. The 87.85% increase experienced in the distance GM cycles, and 54.2% in the GS cycles, should be highlighted.
In the Balearic Islands, in the 2020-2021 academic year, 15.4 % of the students enrolled in general education were foreigners.
Grade repetition
When analysing the evolution of the repetition rates in the period between the academic years 2016-2017 and 2020-2021, it can be seen that there was a decrease in all educational levels, both in primary and ESO, more accentuated in the last year, coinciding with the high percentage of promotion in the academic year 2019-2020 due to the specific criteria of the final assessment and extraordinary assessment established.
In primary education, during the five years analysed, the repetition rates for all levels decreased between 2 points (fourth year of primary school) and 2.9 points (first year of primary school) in the Balearic Islands as a whole. (Graph 2)
In the case of ESO, when analysing the overall repetition percentages for the 2020-2021 academic year, it can be seen that both the first and second year of ESO have the highest value, with 4.2 % of pupils remaining in the same year. The percentage of boys repeating is higher than that of girls at all levels, with differences ranging from 2.2 points in the first year of ESO to 1.2 in the fourth year of ESO. In terms of school ownership, students in public schools have higher repetition rates than those in grant-aided schools (the differences vary according to the level and range from 1.1 percentage points in the third year of ESO to 2.7 points in the second year of ESO). In non-subsidised private schools, the repetition rate is very low and does not exceed 0.1 % at any level of education. Menorca is the island where, at all levels of the stage, repetition is lowest and Mallorca where it is highest, with the sole exception of the fourth year of ESO, where the highest percentage of repetition is recorded in the Pitiüses. (Graph 3)
Promotion and graduation
The overall analysis of the evolution of promotion and graduation during the period from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021 in the Balearic Islands as a whole shows that, at all levels of the primary, secondary and baccalaureate stages, there were positive increases in the percentages of promotion and graduation from the beginning of the period. The highest percentage of promotion and graduation in each of these stages occurred in the 2019-2020 academic year due to the specific ordinary and extraordinary assessment criteria established. On the other hand, during the period covering the last four academic years, from 2017-2018 to 2020-2021, the number of graduates in vocational training cycles increased progressively, with the highest number of graduates occurring in the last year of the period.
Since the beginning of the period, the number of graduates in basic vocational training has increased by 28.7%, 46.4% in GM cycles and 49.2% in GS cycles.
Finally, it should again be noted that the application of the specific assessment and qualification criteria in each of the educational stages motivated by COVID-19 was reflected in an increase in promotion in the 2019-2020 academic year and, consequently, in a decrease in repetition rates in 2020-2021 in primary education, ESO and baccalaureate stages. In vocational training, this increase in the number of graduates with respect to previous years was observed in the 2020-2021 academic year.
In the primary stage, in the 2020-2021 academic year, the promotion percentages (percentage of pupils moving on to the next level) within the stage fluctuated between 97.3 % and 98.5 %. At the last level, sixth grade, 98.3 % of pupils completed the stage and progressed to ESO. The promotion rates from primary school in the private, non-subsidised schools were the highest and were close to 100 %, while those in the private, subsidised schools were slightly higher than those in the public schools. The highest percentage of promotion at the first level was found in Ibiza and Formentera, and at all other levels in Menorca. (Graph 4)
In terms of promotion and graduation within ESO, more than 86 % of pupils promoted to the next year and, at the end of the stage, 87.8 % of the pupils assessed obtained the Compulsory Secondary Education Certificate. The highest promotion and graduation percentages at all levels were found in private, non-subsidised schools, where between 96.8 % and 98.6 % of pupils promoted, and the lowest in public schools. By islands, Menorca had the best promotion percentages, with 91.6 % of students graduating at the end of the stage, while this percentage was 87.8 % in Mallorca and 85.5 % in Ibiza and Formentera. (Graph 5)
In the first three levels of the ESO stage, 74.1 % of students in the first year of ESO, 65.3 % in the second year and 65.6 % in the third year passed without failing any subject (Graphs 6 and 7).
In the ordinary baccalaureate, in the Balearic Islands as a whole, 83.4 % of pupils progressed from the first level to the second and 63.6 % did so with all subjects passed. Of those in the second year, 84.2 % obtained the Baccalaureate. At this stage, the highest promotion and graduation percentages corresponded to students in private, non-subsidised schools, and the lowest to public schools. In Menorca, 90 % of students graduated, in Ibiza and Formentera, 86.1 %, and in Mallorca, 83.4 %.(Graph 8).
On the other hand, students in the ordinary baccalaureate who studied the Science stream obtained the highest percentage of graduation, 87.5 %, followed by those in the Art stream, with 82.1 %, and those in the Humanities and Social Sciences stream, with 81.4 %.
In the 2020-2021 academic year, 660 students obtained the basic vocational training qualification, 3,177 in the GM and 2,482 in the GS, with a very notable increase with respect to previous years, which can be observed in each of the cycles. More than 85.2 % in basic vocational training, 78.5 % in the GM cycles and 79.2 % in the GS cycles of the graduates were enrolled in public centres in Majorca (Graphs 9 and 10). (Graphs 9 and 10)
Promotion and graduation
The overall analysis of the evolution of promotion and graduation during the period from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021 in the Balearic Islands as a whole shows that, at all levels of the primary, secondary and baccalaureate stages, there were positive increases in the percentages of promotion and graduation from the beginning of the period. The highest percentage of promotion and graduation in each of these stages occurred in the 2019-2020 academic year due to the specific ordinary and extraordinary assessment criteria established. On the other hand, during the period covering the last four academic years, from 2017-2018 to 2020-2021, the number of graduates in the vocational training cycles increased progressively, and the highest number of graduates occurred in the 2019-2020 academic year due to the specific ordinary and extraordinary assessment criteria established.
Women at the forefront
According to the gender of the student body, it can be seen that, in the 2020-2021 academic year, while in primary school the differences in promotion were not remarkable, in ESO girls promoted and graduated with percentages that exceeded those of boys at all levels, with differences ranging from 2.3 to 4.6 percentage points. In the regular baccalaureate, this difference was 5.4 percentage points for promotion from first to second grade and 3.5 points for graduation. (Figures 11 and 12)
On the other hand, in the vocational training cycles, it was the boys who graduated more than the girls, with differences of 38.4 percentage points in IVET, 4.8 in GM cycles and 4 in GS cycles.
