The educational community celebrates 50 years of Santillana

In 1960, a million and a half primary school-age children did not attend school, and in Spain there were 119 secondary schools. Today, practically all pupils between three and 16 attend school, there are 4,000 secondary schools and 74% of students complete their high school diploma or vocational training. Yesterday, the educational community paid tribute to Santillana - owned by Grupo PRISA - for the 50 years the company has dedicated to education. The event looked back over the past half-century of political, social and educational progress of Spain, progress that is inextricably intertwined with the history of the publishing house, created in 1960 with a vocation to support teachers, as explained by the chairman of Grupo Santillana, Emiliano Martínez

In a ceremony held in Madrid, at the Consejo Escolar del Estado (National Education Council), guest speakers reviewed the history of the publishing house that began with the "modesty of an small and medium-sized enterprise" and that today operates in 22 countries. The ceremony underlined Santillana's commitment to education through three decades of educational innovation awards and key events such as the annual Spring Seminar and Education Week.

The president of the Consejo Escolar del Estado, Carmen Maestro, said that Santillana's collaboration was crucial in improving Spanish education, and both Martinez and the education minister, Ángel Gabilondo, recalled the dedication of the founders of the publishing house: Jesus de Polanco and Francisco Pérez González, who died recently. Ignacio Polanco, president of PRISA, Manuel Polanco, president of Sogecable, Miguel Ángel Cayuela, CEO of Santillana, and Borja Pérez Arauna, CEO of PRISA, attended the event.

UNED professor Manuel de Puelles explained that the history of educational transformation over the last 50 years was one of success, adding, however, that there was still room for improvement. And professor Agustín Escolano discussed the contribution of Santillana to the ongoing progress in the area. Apart from their indisputable value in classrooms, textbooks are "a mirror of society", said Escobar, one of the authors, along with Puelles, of the special commemorative book published to mark Santillana's half century.

Source: EL PAÍS