They are carried out in 47 countries, thanks to the work of more than 10,200 professionals. The programmes managed directly by the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport reach 32 countries, with more than 42,000 students and almost 1,300 teachers.

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More than 133,700 students study Spanish around the world

A total of 133,752 students are studying Spanish language and culture around the world thanks to the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport’s programmes abroad, according to data from the Statistics on Educational Action Abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year, published this Friday. Of the total number of students, 54.6 % are women, compared to 45.4 % men.

These programmes are carried out in 47 countries thanks to the work of 10,203 professionals, including teachers, technical advisors, teachers from the Bilingual Sections, visiting teachers and language assistants.

The countries where most students participate in the different programmes are the United States (41,871 students), Canada (7,440), Bulgaria (7,344), Poland (6,793), Russia (6,197), France (5,413) and Germany (4,998).

The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport has six directly managed programmes in 32 countries. According to the statistics, the number of students who have benefited from these programmes has grown to 42,112 students in the 2023-2024 academic year, i.e. 4.8 % more than a decade ago.

Among these six programmes, there are 18 Spanish state-owned centres in 7 different countries, where a total of 8,335 students study, attended by 694 teachers. In addition, there are 2 other mixed centres with Spanish state participation, where 2,046 students and 218 teachers study.

The programme of Spanish Sections in schools in other countries, which enables Spanish language teaching to be taken abroad, has 29 sections in five countries and a total of 9,579 students in 57 schools. This programme is characterised by its flexibility and its capacity to adapt to different educational systems.

As for the European Schools, the number of students in the 2023-2024 academic year has grown once again, reaching a total of 6,567 students, which is 1,571 more than ten years ago.

In addition to the programmes managed directly by the Ministry, which have Spanish civil servant teachers, there are also programmes in which the Ministry participates through collaboration agreements or through the participation of teaching or support staff. Such as the Bilingual Sections programme, present in China, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe, which has 74 sections and 31,449 students.

For its part, the International Spanish Academies programme, which is taught in the United States, Canada and Australia, had 45,739 students (10,000 more than a decade ago) and 156 teachers.

The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport’s Acción Educativa Exterior promotes teaching in Spanish abroad through different programmes, six of which are managed directly and the rest through agreements and collaborations, with the aim of participating in the promotion, dissemination and preservation of the Spanish language and culture in the world. Its action is also aimed at enabling Spaniards living abroad to maintain cultural links with their country.