On 7 September 2026, Basque Education Minister Begoña Pedrosa in the CEIP Mendiko Eskola in Amurrio opened the 2026/2027 school year and outlined the guidelines of the Departamento de Educación explained. According to the government, Euskadi 280,386 pupils are enrolled in Educación Infantil, Primaria, Educación Secundaria Obligatoria and Bachillerato in the Autonomous Community. The centrepiece is a binding framework for the first time, covering two school years (2026/2027 and 2027/2028), which is intended to bring together the planning, support and evaluation of improvements.
The government groups the measures under four priorities: first, strengthening literacy, mathematics and science skills; second, promoting Euskera and plurilingualism; third, wellbeing, convivencia and co-education; and fourth, reliable support for schools and teachers. The organisational resolution published at the start of the school year establishes a “Horizonte de trabajo de dos cursos”, enabling teams to refine goals, implement measures and assess their impact on the basis of internal and external evidence – including attainment data, diagnostic assessments, PAU results PAU and indicators relating to the school community.
For secondary education, the Departamento de Educación has announced the introduction of Hezi+ At the same time, teaching by subject area will be strengthened in the 1st and 2nd years of ESO to promote cross-curricular skills more systematically. In Bachillerato, PAU results are to be analysed more closely to inform teaching development. Pedrosa stressed that the initiatives aim to consider pupils’ academic progress alongside their social and emotional wellbeing, and to support both through stability over time and ongoing assistance. These statements are attributed to the government; as would be expected at the outset, no independent evaluation data on the new framework are yet available.
Particular emphasis is placed on reading skills as the basis for comprehension, argumentation and critical thinking in all subjects and year groups. The plans include binding agreements on teaching methods, systematic reading practice across different subjects, more problem-solving tasks and tailored support within mainstream classes. On languages, the government points to stronger project work by individual schools to take account of Euskera, existing multilingualism and the diversity of home languages.
The measures fall under the overarching framework of the Estrategia Integral para la Mejora de los Resultados Educativos 2025-2028 The announcement does not quantify any additional funding, increases in staffing or pilot projects that have already been evaluated. For schools, the new two-year cycle involves administrative changes, but also provides longer timeframes for implementing and evaluating educational initiatives across Euskadi.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).