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Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports

Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes
Headquarters of the Ministry of Education
Agency overview
Formed	March 31, 1900; 124 years ago (1900-03-31) (as Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts) November 22, 2023 (as Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports)
Preceding agency	Ministry of Development
Type	Ministry
Jurisdiction	Government of Spain
Headquarters	36, Alcalá Street Madrid, Spain
Employees	8,532 (2019)
Annual budget	€ 6.4 billion, 2023
Minister responsible	Pilar Alegría, Minister
Agency executives	Abelardo de la Rosa Díaz, Secretary of State for Education José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, President of the National Sports Council Clara Sanz López, Secretary-General for Professional Training Santiago Antonio Roura Gómez, Under-Secretary
Child agencies	State School Council Superior Council of Artistic Teaching State Observatory for School Coexistence
Website	Ministry of Education (in Spanish)

The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPD) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and carrying out the government policy on education and vocational training, including all the teachings of the education system except university education, without prejudice to the competences of the National Sports Council in matters of sports education. Likewise, it is also the responsibility of this Department the promotion of cooperation actions and, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the promotion of international relations in the field of non-university education.

The Education in Spain is established as a decentralized system in which the regions have powers over the basic and secondary education while the central government establishes the general basis of the system and it is responsible for the tertiary education. Currently, the Education Ministry has no authority over universities because it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Universities. As of 2018, there are more than 550,000 school teachers and more than 7,000 university professors.

The MEFP is headed by the Minister of Education, who is appointed by the King of Spain at request of the Prime Minister. The Minister is assisted by the Secretary of State for Education, the Secretary-General for Vocational Training (with the rank of Under-Secretary) and the Under-Secretary of the Ministry. In addition, in order to coordinate the education system it exists the Sectoral Conference on Education that is composed by the Education Minister and the Regional Ministers of Education.

Since July 2021, the minister has been Pilar Alegría, from the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.

History

Early period

The Ministry of Education was created during the regency of Maria Christina of Austria by 1900 Budget Act. However, the government policy on education appeared time before. Section 369 of the Constitution of 1812 created the Directorate-General for Studies for the Inspection of Public Teaching. Thirteen years later the Directorate-General for Studies acquired the name of Inspectorate-General for Public Instruction and, in 1834 it recovers its original denomination. The Royal Decree of May 13, 1846, change its name to Directorate-General for Public Instruction.

It depended on many departments, going through the Secretariat of the Dispatch of Grace and Justice under the reign of Ferdinand VII; the Secretariat of the Dispatch of Development (later called of the Interior) in 1832 with powers on public instruction, universities, economic societies, schools, Royal Academies, Primary Schools and Conservatories of Art and music; the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Governance of the Realm in 1835 and Secretariat of the Dispatch of Commerce, Instruction and Public Works in 1847.

Since 1855, these responsibilities returned to the Ministry of Development and stayed that way until 1900. During this 45 years, the Directorate-General for Public Instruction assumed powers on Culture and it was divided in offices: universities; high schools; basic schools; archives, libraries and museums; fine arts and development; Accounting and the Intellectual and Industrial Property Bulletin.

Late period

In 1900, the Ministry of Development split into two ministries, being one of them the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. This ministry, that would maintain its denomination until the Civil War, it was driven by prime minister Francisco Silvela who appointed Antonio García Alix as the first Education Minister. PM Silvela had assumed the office a year before and after the disaster of the 1898, it was needed a cut of the government expenditure.

In order to comply with this, in April Silvela reshuffled the Cabinet suppressing the Ministry of Overseas —which lost the sense of its existence after the loss of the last colonies— and the Ministry of Development, creating in its place the Ministry of Public Instruction and of Agriculture.

With the premiership of the Count of Romanones it would begin to shape a model of Ministry with timid regenerationist airs. Initially, it had four sections: Universities and Institutes; First Teaching and Normal Schools; Fine arts; and Civil Constructions and Special Schools, whose work consisted in the promotion of public and private education in its different classes and degrees, the promotion of science and letters, Fine Arts, Archives, Libraries and Museums. It was also part of the ministry the Directorate-General for the Geographical and Statistical Institute.

Throughout those years, the Department widened its structure, with the creation of the Directorate-General for Primary Education (1911) and the Directorate-General for Fine Arts (1915). It was also at this time that the current headquarters were built on Alcalá Street 36 in Madrid.

In Second Republic, the Department assumed the competence on Vocational Training (until then dependent of Labour) and the Directorate-General for Technical and Superior Education is created. Briefly, between May 1937 and March 1939, the ministry merged with the Ministry of Health. After the victory of Franco, the Franco regime change its name to Ministry of National Education and the Department assumed the management of the Spanish and Maria Guerrero theaters, through the so-called National Council of Theaters, which in 1951 was ceded to the newly created Ministry of Information and Tourism.

During this period, the Spanish National Research Council was also created within the Ministry. Through Law 35/1966, of May 31, the Department changed its name to Ministry of Education and Science, which would last three decades. According to statements by the education minister Manuel Lora-Tamayo, it was intended, following recommendations of the Council of Europe and the OECD, to enhance the scientific and research work of the Spanish Administration and put it in direct relation with the tertiary education. An Undersecretariat for Higher Education and Research was also created.

Democracy

During the reign of Juan Carlos I, the Spanish transition to democracy started and started the specialization of the Administration by creating new ministries for specific work areas. In this sense, in 1977 the Ministry of Culture was created assuming the Directorate-General for Artistic and Cultural Heritage. In 1979 it was created the Ministry of Universities and Research assuming those functions but was suppressed in 1981. In 1990, the National Sports Council was integrated in the Ministry.

After 1996, both Education and Culture merge again and it was created the Secretariats of State for Universities, Research and Development and for Culture, as well as the General Secretariat for Education and Vocational Training. However, under the second term of José María Aznar (2000–2004), Education loses the research competences for the benefit of the new Ministry of Science and Innovation.

In 2004, the new government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero recovered the classic name of the Ministry of Education and Science. Again, Culture acquires ministerial rank and Science and Research return to Education. Only for four years, because in 2008 the Ministry of Science and Innovation was created assuming the responsibilities on University Education and Science. In return, the Ministry of Education is assigned the competence on Social Policy. This situation is maintained for one year: In 2009 the functions on tertiary education are returned to Education and the Social Policy goes to Health.

In the first government of Mariano Rajoy, on December 22, 2011, the Ministry of Education was again merged with Culture in the new Department of Education, Culture and Sport. After the motion of no confidence against Rajoy of 2018 and the formation of the new government of Pedro Sanchez in June 2018, the Ministry again broke away from Culture and also loses competences on universities, in favor of the Ministry of Science. It is now called the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, MEFP. In 2020, some responsibilities of the Ministry of Labour on vocational training in the labour market were transferred to the MEFP, which was boosted by promoting the Directorate-General for Training to General Secretariat.

Structure

The current structure of the Department of Education is:

• The Secretariat of State for Education.
  • The Directorate-General for Evaluation and Territorial Cooperation
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Academic Organization
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Territorial Cooperation and Educational Innovation
    • The National Institute for Educational Evaluation
    • The National Institute for Educational Technologies and Teacher Training
  • The Directorate-General for Educational Planning and Management
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Scholarships, Study Aid and Educational Promotion
    • The Foreign Education Unit
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Centers and Programs
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Education Inspection
• The General Secretariat for Vocational Training
  • The Directorate-General for Planning, Innovation and Management of Vocational Training
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Programs and Management
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Centers and Entrepreneurship
    • The Center for Innovation and High-Performance Technique on Vocational Training
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Vocational Training Organization
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Orientation and Lifelong Learning
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Evaluation and Quality
• The National Sports Council (CSD)
  • The Directorate-General for Sports.
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for High Competition
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Sports Promotion and Innovation
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Women and Sport
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for the Sport Legal Regime
    • The General Secretariat
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Sport Sciences
  • The President's Cabinet
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Professional Sport and Financial Control
  • The Press Office
  • The Spanish Anti-Doping Agency
• The Undersecretariat of Education, Vocational Training and Sports
  • The Technical General Secretariat
    • The Deputy Technical General Secretariat
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Appeals and Court Relations
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Statistics and Studies
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Citizen Services, Documentation and Publications
  • The Budget Office
  • The Administrative Office
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Personnel
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Information and Communications Technologies
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Economic Management and the European Social Fund
  • The Inspectorate-General of Services

List of Ministers

Regency of María Cristina for Alfonso XIII (1885-1902)

Reign of Alfonso XIII (1902–1923)

Dictadura de Primo de Rivera (1923–1931)

II Republic (1931–1939)

Francoism (1936–1975)

Reign of Juan Carlos I (born 1975)

Took office	Left office	Name		Party		Cabinet
December 12, 1975	July 5, 1976		Carlos Robles Piquer (5)
July 5, 1976	July 4, 1977		Aurelio Menéndez Menéndez (4)
July 4, 1977	February 25, 1978		Íñigo Cavero Lataillade (4)		UCD	Cst. (Suárez)
February 25, 1978	April 6, 1979		Íñigo Cavero Lataillade (5)		UCD
April 6, 1979	September 9, 1980		José Manuel Otero Novas (5)		UCD	I (Suárez)
September 9, 1980	February 26, 1981		Juan Antonio Ortega (5)		UCD
February 26, 1981	December 2, 1981		Juan Antonio Ortega (6)		UCD	I (Calvo-Sotelo)
December 2, 1981	December 2, 1982		Federico Mayor Zaragoza (5)		UCD
December 3, 1982	July 12, 1988		José María Maravall (5)		PSOE	II • III • IV (González)
July 12, 1988	June 24, 1992		Javier Solana Madariaga (5)		PSOE
June 24, 1992	July 12, 1993		Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (5)		PSOE
July 13, 1993	July 3, 1995		Gustavo Suárez Pertierra (5)		PSOE	V (González)
July 3, 1995	May 5, 1996		Jerónimo Saavedra (5)		PSOE
May 6, 1996	January 20, 1999		Esperanza Aguirre (7)		PP	VI (Aznar)
January 20, 1999	April 27, 2000		Mariano Rajoy Brey (7)		PP
April 28, 2000	April 17, 2004		Pilar del Castillo (8)		PP	VII (Aznar)
April 18, 2004	April 7, 2006		María Jesús San Segundo (5)		PSOE	VIII (Zapatero)
April 7, 2006	April 13, 2008		Mercedes Cabrera (5)		PSOE
April 14, 2008	April 7, 2009		Mercedes Cabrera (9)		PSOE	IX (Zapatero)
April 7, 2009	December 22, 2011		Ángel Gabilondo Pujol (4)		Indep.
December 22, 2011	June 26, 2015		José Ignacio Wert (8)		Indep.	X•XI•XII (Rajoy)

Reign of Felipe VI (2014– )

Took office	Left office	Name		Party		Cabinet
June 26, 2015	June 1, 2018		Íñigo Méndez de Vigo (8)		PP	X•XI•XII (Rajoy)
June 7, 2018	July 12, 2021		Isabel Celaá (10)		PSOE	XII•XII•XIII•XIV (Sánchez)
July 12, 2021			Pilar Alegría (10)(11)

Since the reign of Alfonso XIII, the current Ministry of Education has successively been known by the following titles:

• Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts (1900–1937) (1).
• Ministry of Public Instruction and Health (1937–1939) (2).
• Commission of Culture and Education of the Technical Board of the State (1936–1938) (3).
• Ministry of Education (1938–1968, 1976–1978, 2009–2011) (4).
• Ministry of Education and Science (1973–1976, 1978–1981, 1981–1996, 2004–2008) (5).
• Ministry of Education and University (1968–1973, 1981) (6).
• Ministry of Education and Culture (1996–2000) (7).
• Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (2000–2004, 2011–2018) (8).
• Ministry of Education, Social policy and Sport (2008–2009) (9).
• Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (2018–2023) (10).
• Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (2023–) (11).

See also

• Rover Environmental Monitoring Station
• Education in Spain

Notes and references

• Official website of Ministry of Education (in Spanish)

1. ^ Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil Service (2019). Statistical Bulletin of the personnel at the service of the Public Administrations (PDF). pp. 32 and 48. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
2. "2023 State Budget" (PDF). www.boe.es. January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
3. ^ "Royal Decree 1045/2018, of August 24, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is developed". boe.es. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
4. "Education in Spain". Expatica. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
5. "Composición y funcionamiento". www.educacionyfp.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved April 22, 2019.
6. Vera, Joaquín (June 8, 2018). "Los cinco retos de Isabel Celaá, la nueva ministra de Educación y FP". El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved April 5, 2019.
7. ^ "Instituto de Formación del Profesorado, Investigación e Innovación Educativa (IFIIE) - Gobierno de España - Ministerio de Educación". November 8, 2011. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
8. "Instituto de Formación del Profesorado, Investigación e Innovación Educativa (IFIIE) - Gobierno de España - Ministerio de Educación". November 8, 2011. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
9. "Corporate Body - Ministerio de Ultramar (España)". PARES. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
10. Cien años de educación en España: en torno a la creación del Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes. Fundación BBVA and MECyD. 2001. pp. 183–195. ISBN 8436934296.
11. "Instituto de Formación del Profesorado, Investigación e Innovación Educativa (IFIIE) - Gobierno de España - Ministerio de Educación". November 8, 2011. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
12. "Corporate Body - Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y Sanidad (España)". PARES. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
13. "Royal Decree 1823/2011, of December 21, by which the ministerial departments are restructured". www.boe.es. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
14. "Royal Decree 274/2024, of March 19, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports". www.boe.es. pp. 32396–32415. Retrieved March 23, 2024.

1. Spain has 553,014 school and high school teachers although they depend from the regional educational administrations. The university employees and professors are 156,042

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)

• 1900 establishments in Spain
• Education ministers of Spain
• Government ministers of Spain
• Ministries established in 1900
• Lists of government ministers of Spain
• Calle de Alcalá
• Government ministries of Spain