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One teacher’s introduction in Toledo helped open the door to WordPress.com Education’s first formal agreement with a regional government in Spain.
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Under the agreement, Castilla-La Mancha will promote the Student plan across 40 vocational education centers, making it available to approximately 45,000 students.
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The agreement marks another milestone for WordPress.com Education, which has already grown to more than 10,000 active students across 531 institutions in 66 countries.
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That could give many more students the chance to build real websites, turn classroom assignments into portfolios, and share their work beyond school.
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How the agreement came together
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Educators in Castilla-La Mancha were already using WordPress.com with their students, and six centers in the region had adopted the program.
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Then a teacher at the Toledo School of Art made an introduction that eventually led us to Sebastián Romero López, the regional coordinator for vocational education in IT and communications.
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Sebastián had been looking for a free hosting solution for his students, so he invited the WordPress.com team to present the program at a regional event in Ciudad Real in June.
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From there, a conversation that began with individual educators grew into something much bigger: an agreement that could make the program accessible across the region’s vocational education system.
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A website students can take beyond the classroom
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No matter where they’re starting from, WordPress.com gives students a place to build and publish on the web without requiring their schools to pay for hosting.
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They can create websites for coursework, publish projects, experiment with ideas, and start building a portfolio they can take beyond the classroom.
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Because WordPress is open source, students learn skills they can use well beyond the classroom. They can continue building websites for their studies, careers, businesses, or creative projects long after their courses end.
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For vocational students in particular, that experience can have immediate practical value.
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Whether they go on to work in web development, design, marketing, media, commerce, or another field entirely, knowing how to create and manage a web presence is an increasingly useful skill.
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What changes for the region’s schools
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Until now, schools in Castilla-La Mancha adopted WordPress.com one by one. Each institution or individual teacher had to discover the program and decide how it could fit into their teaching.
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Now, instead of asking 40 vocational centers to find their way here independently, the regional government can introduce the Student plan across the system.
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Teachers still decide how WordPress fits into their classrooms, but many more can start knowing the program is available to their students.
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Having a place on the web that’s your own matters. This partnership gives students in Castilla-La Mancha the tools to turn their ideas into websites they can build, shape, and share. There’s a lot to learn from making something of your own, and this collaboration is another step toward bringing that kind of hands-on learning to more students around the world.
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Rich Tabor – VP, Growth & Data at Automattic
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This agreement shows what can happen when educators, regional leaders, and WordPress.com work together to give students professional tools.
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Our goal is to help more educators introduce their students to the open web using the same tools trusted by professionals and businesses, while bridging the gap between learning and employment. This means developing in-demand digital skills, demonstrating them through real-world projects, and beginning to build a professional identity.
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The Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha is paving the way for a model we hope to expand to other regions: digital education that teaches students to create, publish, and actively participate on the web.
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Building the next generation of the open web
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An agreement like this is only the beginning.
Its real value will come from what students go on to make: a website they can share, a portfolio they can take to an interview, or a project they keep developing after the course ends.
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We’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of classrooms across Castilla-La Mancha.
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