# Family moving to Bilbao - secondary school (ESO) help



## mikepdx (Feb 18, 2018)

Hello,

Our American family of 4 (girl 12, boy 13) is moving to Bilbao this fall (plan to be there Sept 1st). Our children are good in Spanish/English but speak no Euskaran. We are trying to find a way to enroll in a local secondary (ESO) school where they won't have to take the required Euskaran classes. My Spanish is crude at best so we are trying to find someone in Bilbao that can help us with this challenge (and who also can communicate in English). Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Thank you!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mikepdx said:


> Hello,
> 
> Our American family of 4 (girl 12, boy 13) is moving to Bilbao this fall (plan to be there Sept 1st). Our children are good in Spanish/English but speak no Euskaran. We are trying to find a way to enroll in a local secondary (ESO) school where they won't have to take the required Euskaran classes. My Spanish is crude at best so we are trying to find someone in Bilbao that can help us with this challenge (and who also can communicate in English). Any suggestions or ideas would be very much appreciated. Thank you!!


Have just got back from a weekend in Bilbao - my husband is Basque.
As far as I understand it is very difficult to get into any public education system where Euskera/ Basque is not involved to a fairly large extent. 
Here is some info from some posts I made on another thread





> Here's some more information that others may be able to add to.
> There are various models of schools depending on the language that is used, model A, B and D (I don't know what happened to model C but I never see any reference to it! See below for more information)
> A = Education in Spanish
> B = Basque and Spanish
> ...





> Some Basque friends are staying with us for Easter so I decided to take advantage and ask a little more about the education system. First thing, why isn't there a model C? Well, the letter C doesn't exist in the Basque language Euskera, so that's that mystery solved!
> Next, differences between A,B and D. A is all Spanish except the subject of Euskera. B is EVERYTHING IN EUSKERA except Maths, and D is everything in Euskera. Both children in this family had difficulties with Euskera. The parents are Basque, but non Euskera speakers. The oldest child refused the opportunity to change to an A school, was miserable and failed.
> The youngest child was changed to an A school and is doing better. Apparently the A schools are looked down on by many students as being a soft option...
> And yes, A schools are quite thin on the ground


I have 5 nephews in Bilbao.3 are/ were educated in the French school and 2 are/ were in the American. They are all bilingual in their chosen language


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## mikepdx (Feb 18, 2018)

*Thanks Pesky Wesky*

Thank you Pesky Wesky for the quick reply and info. We've read that the "option A" is going away.. All we need is one school that will work so it's ok if the selection is "thin" but hoping we can also hear from someone living in Bilbao who is "in the system".. Thanks again!


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## sansylivin (Sep 16, 2013)

Hi Mike,

We live down the road in San Sebastian so cannot comment explicitly on situation in Bizkaia. Euskera in education is a real problem for people coming from outside. There is little or no way to avoid and whether or not it is a problem really depends on the age of your children as they will be expected to know more when older and less likely to be able to pick up. It is a very difficult language to learn that is in no way related to Spanish, English or any other latin-based languages. 
Here is Gipuzkoa there are only B and D schools, no A models and from >48 schools in San Sebastian only 3 are model B, the rest are model D (ikastolas). If I was you I would look at the American school in Bilbao (American School of Bilbao), although I think its private so could be costly. The other thing to do is contact either the British embassy in Bilbao or the British council. Good luck!


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## mikepdx (Feb 18, 2018)

Thank you Sansylivin for the information. You are definitely confirming the challenges that we are finding. Regardless of where we end up we definitely plan to visit beautiful San Sebastian. Thanks again.


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## Michael Kelly (May 30, 2017)

Why don't you want your kids to learn Euskara? Is it not useful when living in Bilbao?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Euskera is only useful in Euskadi so if you're not planning on making your life there it's probably not worth putting the extra stress on the children. However, depending on the age of the children it could be that that's not the main problem. If your child is 10, 12, 14 and most or all of the curriculum is in Euskera and they don't speak the language not a lot of learning is going to take place.
Out of 45+ family members in Bilbao (of all ages) i would say only about 5 speak the language and that's because they work in public office.


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## Michael Kelly (May 30, 2017)

This minority language thing is a real growth industry.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Euskera is only useful in Euskadi so if you're not planning on making your life there it's probably not worth putting the extra stress on the children. However, depending on the age of the children it could be that that's not the main problem. If your child is 10, 12, 14 and most or all of the curriculum is in Euskera and they don't speak the language not a lot of learning is going to take place.
> Out of 45+ family members in Bilbao (of all ages) i would say only about 5 speak the language and that's because they work in public office.


 I have to confess that I thought similarly to Mick when I first read the OP.

It comes across as "we want to live there, but don't want to learn the lingo". When we (as a family) went to live in Thailand, our kids had Thai classes in school. I never once considered about trying to avoid it even though it was clear that we were not going to live there long term. In fact every schood has to teach Thai by law anyway.

But if the point raised by PW is true (that other topics are taught in Euskera), doesn't that mean that they are effectively excluding imigration by young families? Sounds like an odd strategy, even for an minority culture wanting to protect its heritage. Is this really the case? I'm intruiged.


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## Michael Kelly (May 30, 2017)

Overandout said:


> doesn't that mean that they are effectively excluding imigration by young families?


Yes, and probably that is desired.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Overandout said:


> I have to confess that I thought similarly to Mick when I first read the OP.
> 
> It comes across as "we want to live there, but don't want to learn the lingo". When we (as a family) went to live in Thailand, our kids had Thai classes in school. I never once considered about trying to avoid it even though it was clear that we were not going to live there long term. In fact every schood has to teach Thai by law anyway.
> 
> But if the point raised by PW is true (that other topics are taught in Euskera), doesn't that mean that they are effectively excluding imigration by young families? Sounds like an odd strategy, even for an minority culture wanting to protect its heritage. Is this really the case? I'm intruiged.


Well, I didn't read it like that. They are asking about education for ESO aged children ie 12+ and I don't know why, I just assumed they were not envisioning a permanent move.. but who knows, we have both just assumed, haven't we? (The explanation about how much Euskera is taught and how much education in Spanish is available is 
in previous posts)
As far as I know, there are similar systems in place in Catalonia with Catalan, but their education seems to come off well in the studies, whereas education in the Basque country doesn't.


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## mikepdx (Feb 18, 2018)

Thanks all for the input. We've actually had some breakthroughs due to connecting with someone from this forum and then directly with the Ministry of Education. There are several "Model A" schools in Bilbao and it sounds like we will be able to enroll our children there. I'm visiting Bilbao in a few weeks and plan to check several schools out and various neighborhoods so when we show up at the end of August we are ready to go. Does anyone have a recommendation on a local agency for renting an apartment in Bilbao (likely from Sept 1 to Feb 28)? Thanks again everyone!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

mikepdx said:


> Thanks all for the input. We've actually had some breakthroughs due to connecting with someone from this forum and then directly with the Ministry of Education. There are several "Model A" schools in Bilbao and it sounds like we will be able to enroll our children there. I'm visiting Bilbao in a few weeks and plan to check several schools out and various neighborhoods so when we show up at the end of August we are ready to go. Does anyone have a recommendation on a local agency for renting an apartment in Bilbao (likely from Sept 1 to Feb 28)? Thanks again everyone!


If it's not too much bother you could post a list of "A" schools as it's not the first time this has come up.
BTW does this 


> Does anyone have a recommendation on a local agency for renting an apartment in Bilbao (likely from Sept 1 to Feb 28)?


mean that your move will be a temporary one?


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