Special education students increase by 7 per cent

Students in special education increased by about 7 per cent in the 2020 to 2021 compared to the previous academic year, data from the annual education survey showed on Wednesday.

The survey also revealed that public expenditure for state education comprised 13.4 per cent of the state budget and 6 per cent of the country’s GDP for the fiscal year of 2020.

According to the data, 2020 to 2021 school year recorded an increase in students of all levels apart from primary and higher education where the number of students decreased despite the operation of additional institutions.

But the total number of students at all levels of education for the academic year 2020/2021 amounted to 201,273, remaining roughly the same as the 2019/2020 academic year when there were 201,242 students.

Special education recorded the largest increase of 6.9 per cent in 2020/2021 when there were 11 special schools with 498 students and 147 educators, compared to 466 students and 146 educators in 2019/2020.

In primary education, 360 schools operated with 58,093 students attending, also showing a slight decrease of 1.2 per cent compared to 2019/2020, which had 361 schools with 58,799 students.

In secondary education, during 2020/2021, 56,714 students attended 168 schools, indicating a slight increase of 1.4 per cent compared to 2019/2020, which had 55,922 students in the same number of schools.

As for higher education, there were 55 institutions with a total enrollment of 53,508 students. The corresponding figures for the academic year 2019/2020 were similar, with 57 educational institutions and a total enrollment of 53,192 students.

Regarding the finance statistics, the survey showed that more money went into education in 2020 compared with the previous year.

It said that for the fiscal year 2020, public expenditure for all levels of education amounted to €1,306.5 million and represented 13.4 per cent of the State Budget and 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In comparison, the corresponding figures for the fiscal year 2019 were €1,280.7 million, constituting 14.5 per cent of the State Budget and 5.5 per cent of the GDP. These figures are based on the Annual Education Survey for 2020/2021, which was released to the public by the Statistical Service on Wednesday.

Data collection for the annual education survey is carried out through questionnaires sent to all educational institutions. Additionally, administrative sources are used, primarily for compiling educational finance statistics.