18/09/2013 00:00
TW
0

Palma.—The Balearic Islands is the region of Spain with the second highest number of foreign schoolchildren, Central Government's Ministry of Education reported yesterday . Of the total number of pupils, 15.6 percent are of immigrant origin, a spokesman confirmed

Only the region of La Rioja on the mainland has a greater numbers of immigrant students, 16.5 percent of the total, not counting university level. The national average percentage of foreign pupils in schools is 9.5 percent.

In the case of the Balearics, 81 percent of foreign pupils are educated at government-run schools, with just 4.4 percent at private education centres and 14.6 percent at state-assisted schools.

So far as the ratio of teaching staff to pupils is concerned, during the last academic year, the Balearics had 10.7 pupils for every teacher, lower than the national average which is 11.4 students to every member of staff.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, Central Government allocated 1.26 million euros to providing text books to students
The Balearics meanwhile has the second highest school drop-out rate in the country with 36.7 percent of pupils in any one year abandoning their secondary education early.

Extra police on duty
There were 380 extra officers on duty yesterday to make sure that pupils arrived safely at primary schools across the island.
With parents wanting to drop their children off as close as possible to school gates, police also had the task of stopping vehicles blocking the entrances and exits of all primary and nursery schools.

There were a further 41 Local Police on duty on Minorca and an extra 45 on Ibiza and Formentera. In total, said the Balearic government yesterday, there were 466 officers monitoring the return to school.

Tomorrow, secondary schools students, including those studying for pre-university entrance will be starting the new term and police will step up security in exactly the same way to ensure safety and smooth flow of traffic.

Another aspect of services provided by police to education centres is that which is known as the “police tutor.” Officers liaise with schools in 31 municipalities in the Balearics where they teach children about road safety, the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs and where they investigate cases of prolonged absenteeism by students.