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Andalusian classrooms grow more diverse as controversial Arabic scheme is axed
Foreign pupil numbers rise 10.8% in a year as Vox celebrates the end of a decades-old language programme
Schools across Andalucía are looking increasingly different these days. New figures from the Observatory of Childhood and Adolescence in Andalusia (OIAA) show that around 117,000 students of foreign origin were enrolled in non-compulsory education during the 2024/2025 academic year, making up 8.4% of the total student population. That's a jump of 10.8% on the year before.Morocco leads the way when it comes to where these pupils are coming from. African nationalities account for 32% of all foreign students in the region, and according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), a quarter of the foreign population aged nought to 19 registered in Andalucía is Moroccan. The pattern holds among unaccompanied minors entering the region's child protection system too. Of the 1,465 new admissions recorded, nearly half, 46%, came from Morocco, followed by Gambia on 16.9% and Algeria on 15.1%. Smaller numbers arrived from Senegal, Mali, Romania and Ukraine.
Against this backdrop, one long-running scheme has come to an end. The Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Teaching Program, running since 1985 and funded by the Moroccan government, has been suspended in Andalucía, where 1,080 students had been taking part. The programme, offered outside normal school hours, was designed to help Moroccan children keep hold of their language and identity while also encouraging wider integration in Spanish classrooms.
Its closure came after pressure from Vox, which has claimed credit for persuading regional president Juanma Moreno to scrap it. The party points out that participation has been falling for years, down from 3,000 students in 2021 to around 1,800 more recently.
Not everyone agrees with how it's been framed. Lahsen El Himer Edalus, president of the Union of Islamic Communities of Andalusia (UCIDAN), says the wider question shouldn't get lost. "A specific bilateral programme is one thing, but the place that the Arabic language can occupy within the Spanish education system is another," he said, suggesting schools might instead consider offering Arabic as a foreign language option where there's enough demand for it.
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