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The education early leaver rate, which refers to people between 18 and 24 years of age who have not completed basic secondary education, is decreasing in Andalucía. The regional government's education department puts the dropout rate at 15.4 per cent, which is one of the lowest figures ever (in 2022 it was 15.2%), although it is still above the national average, which is 13%. In the Basque Country it is five per cent.
Since 2018 the cumulative decrease in the dropout rate in Andalucía is almost 6.5 points. Seven years ago the early dropout rate still stood at 21.9%. This improvement coincides with the progress of vocational training in the region. This is an alternative that is well received by those students who cannot find their way through the education system and which is now seen as a credible alternative with a future job. The regional spokesperson for education and vocational training, Carmen Castillo, considers that these data suggest "we are on the right track".
According to Spain's INE national statistics institute in 2024 The Basque Country had a 5.0% dropout rate and Cantabria 5.5%, which stand out with the lowest rates. These are followed by Navarra (9.9%), Asturias (10.5%) and Madrid (10.5%).
Another four regions are below the Spanish average. They are Castile and Leon (10.8%), Galicia (10.8%), Aragon (11.9%) and Aragon (12.9%). At the other extreme are the regions with the highest values. The region with the worst data is Melilla (26.0%), together with the Balearic Islands (20.1%) and Murcia (18.2%).
There are several factors that influence a pupil's educational development. One of the most significant is the pupil's home environment. The level of education of the parents is related to the future of their children. INE data make it clear that the rate of early school leavers decreases as the level of education attained by mothers increases: 34.0% in the case of lower primary education compared to 2.3% for higher education.
According to Castillo there is still work to be done in Andalucía. "It's not that the overall figures are good, but we are getting closer to the national average and, in the end, to the objective we want to achieve. There is less and less dropping out. That is to say, that our students remain in the system," she said.
The education spokesperson went on to say, "We were coming from a very bad situation, I would also say. We had rates that were complicated here in Andalucía also due to the idiosyncrasies of the region because we also came from years of population abandonment," she added, to outline the current situation of school dropout rates.
There is other data provided by the INE that allows us to make a moderately positive interpretation. The figure of the 'nini', young people who neither work nor study, is dropping. The percentage of young people aged 15 to 29 without any study or work stands at 12.0%, some 0.3 points lower than the previous year.
Jesús Martín, a teacher at Maristas school, points out that the "socio-economic context" continues to be the main cause of school dropout without completing compulsory education. Although he acknowledges that improvements have been made in recent years, he points out that there is room for improvement. "We have to put the emphasis on families, make them see the importance of education for their children's future employment," he said.
In terms of the level of education attained, the percentage drops to 9.4% for young people with upper secondary education or higher, while for young people with lower secondary education or lower, the percentage rises to 16.2% (6.7 points higher).
The population aged 20-24 having attained at least upper secondary education is 79.9% in 2024, 14.1 percentage points higher than in 2014 (65.8%) and 0.9 points higher than in 2023.
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