Interview with Joaquín Gairín and Patricia Olmos

Early school leaving is one of the priority problems of Spanish education. According to the Map of Early Educational Leaving in Spain, published by the European Society and Education Foundation, Spain is one of the European Union countries with the highest percentage of the population with a basic education level, surpassed only by Portugal, Malta and Italy. On the other hand, it has the lowest percentage of the population with post-compulsory secondary studies: only 25% in 2019.

Given its relevance, the pedagogues Joaquín Gairín and Patricia Olmos, professor and doctor from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, respectively, brought together a team of 16 professionals from education, pedagogy and psychology to create the book Reducing school dropout and improving the persistence. In it, they try to delve into the causes that lead students to drop out once they are no longer compulsory and the economic and social consequences of such dropout. They also propose a series of actions aimed at tackling this problem.

Read the entire interview here.