Basques reinvent themselves as education power

Whenever there are discussions about the international superpowers in education it's not long before you hear about Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong or Finland.

And then there are the rapid climbers such as Vietnam and Poland.
But what about the Basque education system as the next rising star? It has the hallmarks of many high achievers - with a strong sense of identity and ambition, emerging from conflict and with a need to compete with much bigger neighbours.
The Basque government, with a high degree of autonomy from the Spanish central government, has invested heavily in education.
If the Basque region were ranked as a country, only Denmark and Austria would have higher levels of per-pupil spending in Europe.
Almost 48% of the working-age population has a degree-level qualification, similar to the levels in Finland and Norway. An unusually high proportion of these graduates, almost half, have studied science, maths and engineering.
In terms of the percentage of the population engaged in research and development, it is up at the top with Finland and Denmark.
In many ways, the educational profile feels more like a pocket of Scandinavia rather than southern Europe.
And Swedish experts, who have seen their own school system slipping down the international rankings, have been visiting Basque schools to learn lessons.
So what could they find out?
The Basque government's education minister Cristina Uriarte says the commitment to education is strongly linked to national identity.
"Education is the key to keeping our culture," she says.
There is a big push for schools to teach in the Basque language and to instil a sense of cultural identity.
Under Franco's dictatorship the Basque language was suppressed.
The Basque government, seeking to escape this long shadow, has used its devolved powers to build an education system to protect its language and build economic self-sufficiency.