Trilingual school to open in Estepona

A TRILINGUAL school in a Costa del Sol town will be open to pupils by next September, part-funded by a loan from the European urban development pot, or FEDER.

The total cost of the centre in Estepona will be around €16 million, of which a refundable sum of €8.2m has been provided through the FEDER, and once the school is in operation from the beginning of the 2022 academic year, it will generate around 100 directly-linked jobs and 25 indirect new vacancies, according to the town council.

Pupils will typically be educated partly in Spanish but mostly in English, although the opportunity for them to be taught mostly or partly in French will be available.

Schools of this type often attract expat parents – permanent residents, but who realise their children might want to live, work or study in their family's country of origin as adults, or parents whose stay in Spain is only ever intended to be temporary, so their children can continue with the same schooling format as they did in their home nation.

This said, bilingual and trilingual schools in many parts of the country attract native Spanish pupils who, in some cases, are actually the majority, as it gives them the opportunity to grow up with more than one language in which they have a native or near-native level of fluency.

Estepona's trilingual school is currently under construction, with the symbolic act of the first brick being laid having taken place in February.

Although bilingual and trilingual schools are normally private, fee-paying entities, some offer scholarships and, as the FEDER is designed for 'viable investments', the idea behind it is that it will attract new residents from abroad or long-stay tourists, create jobs, and the fees paid will translate to greater income for the public coffers.

In total, the school, developed by the Aquinas Group, will have spaces for up to 800 pupils.

A pupils' residence block is included, as the school may attract full-time or weekly boarders.