Recession leads to education in Spain

More than 25,000 adults per year have gone back to education since the crisis began.

In Malaga alone over 6,600 people over the age of 18 sat the ESO (similar to GCE) exams in April. With this title they can go on to further education and, eventually, university.

In the years previous to the recession many people were leaving education early, especially men, and going straight to work, usually in something unskilled like construction.

Now that the crisis is in full swing they are realising the error of their ways, and the fact that there are very few jobs that require no sort of education, and they are returning to the classroom in droves.

The yearly average of adult inscription in 2008 was 1,176 and in 2012 it was 3,829 showing the steep rise in demand for education by the “mature” students.