Evolution of Spain's Education System: Key Legislation & Principles

The General Law of Education (1970)

Established free and compulsory education from ages 6-14, and the right to Spanish education at all levels.

The 1978 Constitution

Article 27 guarantees the right to education for everyone, seeking the full development of personality based on democratic principles, fundamental rights, and freedoms. The government must ensure parents' right to choose religious and moral training.

Key Pillars of this Educational Period:

• Realizing and extending the right to education for all Spaniards.
• Improving the quality of the education system.
• Decentralizing educational administration.

The novelty lies in the guaranteed right to education through the new Social Democratic state established in Spain in 1978.

LOEC, Organic Law 5/1980

Article 3 outlines the right to education:

• All Spaniards have the right to basic education and professional development for personal growth and socially useful activities. This is compulsory and free at legally established levels, without affecting children under six.
• Gratuity will extend to preschool, as budget permits.
• All Spaniards have the right to higher education, conditional on vocational choice, skills, and personal aptitude, consistent with societal needs.
• Foreign residents in Spain have the same educational rights.

LODE, Organic Law of the Right to Education (1985)

The LOEC was a partial development of Article 27. The LODE addresses parental involvement and responds to social and political changes, emphasizing educational pluralism and equity. It defends education as a public service, guaranteeing compulsory, free basic education for citizens and resident aliens, enabling personal development, socially useful activity, and access to higher education without discrimination.

LOGSE, Law of General Education (1990)

LOGSE recognizes the full right to education as enshrined in the Constitution. Its main purposes include:

• Forming pupils in respect for rights and freedoms.
• Training for professional exercise.
• Training in respect for plurality.
• Preparing for active participation in social and cultural development.
• Training for peace, cooperation, and solidarity among peoples.

LOPEG, Law Organizes Participation, Evaluation and Management of Schools Teaching (1995)

This law focuses on participation in education, involving students, families, administration, service staff, municipal representatives, and private school owners, ensuring constitutionally recognized rights are applied in educational centers.

LOCE, Organic Law of the Quality of Education (2002)

LOCE emphasizes the importance of educational quality in Spain as a factor of economic and social cohesion. After 30 years of free and compulsory education (extended to age 16), it aims to ensure equal opportunities and the right to education. It seeks quality education for individual freedom, personal fulfillment, and social and economic progress.

Article 2 prioritizes parents' right and duty to educate their children, with the State protecting this right. Key aspects of the right to education under LOCE:

• Access to education for all.
• Civic education.
• Ensuring quality education.

LOE, Basic Education Act (2006)

Sets out principles for improving education quality, participation, inclusion, and equal opportunities.

General Principles of the Law:

• a) Quality education for all students, regardless of circumstances.
• b) Equity, ensuring equal opportunities, inclusive education, non-discrimination, and acting as a compensatory element for personal inequalities (cultural, economic, social, and disability-related).
• c) Transmission and implementation of prevailing societal values.
• d) Education as lifelong learning.
• e) Flexibility to adapt education to student diversity (skills, interests, expectations, needs) and societal changes.
• f) Educational and vocational guidance for personalized training, promoting comprehensive knowledge, skills, and values.
• g) Individual student effort and motivation.
• h) Joint effort by students, families, teachers, schools, administrations, institutions, and society.
• i) Autonomy to set and adjust organizational and curricular activities within the framework of State, Autonomous Communities, local corporations, and educational institutions' powers.
• j) Participation of the educational community in school organization, governance, and operation.
• k) Education for conflict prevention, peaceful resolution, and nonviolence in personal, family, and social life.
• l) Development of equal rights and opportunities, and promotion of gender equality.
• m) Recognition of teaching as a critical factor for educational quality, social recognition of teachers, and support for their work.
• n) Development and promotion of research, experimentation, and educational innovation.
• o) Evaluation of the entire educational system (programming, organization, teaching-learning processes, and results).
• p) Cooperation between the State and Autonomous Communities in defining, implementing, and evaluating educational policies.
• q) Cooperation and collaboration between education authorities and local authorities in planning and implementation.