Jed Neill
SPAIN’S main opposition party have proposed to make the first year of university free for all undergraduate students.
The PSOE say the measure guarantees equal opportunities and avoids the ‘racial difference between territories’.
Speaking in Sevilla, PSOE general secretary, Pedro Sanchez, 45, said the move was to make sure no one missed out on a university education because of financial concerns.
“We do not want anyone to miss the opportunity to study at university because they cannot afford the cost of the first registration,” explained Sanchez.
“We’re going to do it on a gradual path, four years from now, starting with those students with lower incomes.”
Sanchez went on to say that financing this measure would mean putting aside 180 to 200 million euros per year.
With the ambitious aim of increasing undergraduates from lower household incomes by 20 to 30 percent.
“Investment in universities has collapsed, we are at the tail end of the last six European countries in terms of university spending,” denounced the socialist leader.
Back in 2014, the OECD recorded that educational spending in Spain was €10,189 per student.
In four years the PSOE want Spain to increase spending on education from 1.08% of GDP to 1.3%.
To bring the country more in line with the likes of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden where there is free access to university.
