Education and Teaching in Costa Rica

(A chat with local teachers)


The school system in Costa Rica is impressive. The Country boasts to have the highest literacy rate in the world. There are many positives however many changes need to happen as well.

-Schools are set up in primary (primario) for Preschool-8th grade and secondary (collegio) 8th-11th grades

-By law, schools must be within a certain distance of each town or pueblo (however in rural communities students may walk 3 to 4 hours in each direction)

-Urban schools have better schools and more access to resources than rural schools, mostly because parents are expected to give money to the schools and in rural mountain communities they can not afford this

-In the constitution it states businesses can not hire a student who drops out of school before the age of 14 years old (this has been in the constitution since 1858!)

-They have a 17% drop out rate before graduation in public high schools (collegio) and a 1% drop out rate in private high schools

-Every province has a school for special education (severe needs students), parents can choose to send their child to the local school or special education school. Schools with access to funding have a school psychologist, speech therapist and 2 special education teachers. They have 3 "resource rooms" for varying degrees of disabilities. I was happy to learn they recognize learning disabilities which is unheard of in Mexico...however parents must give permission for placement in the special education program and many are scared of labling their child.

-There are 4 public Universities in the country that are free for Costa Ricans and over 60 private Universities

-Universities prepare students for everything from waiters and chefs to doctors

-Teachers attend university for 4 to 8 years, four years for a basic degree, 6 years to be licensed and 8 years for a Masters degree, pay is based on years in school

-There are many incentives to teach in a rural community including higher pay and earlier retirement, however there are little to no materials in these schools

-A new law was passed last month: Teachers can not even TOUCH a student or they can be put in jail for 5 years. Im not sure if the teachers I talked with were exagerating or not, but they seemed pretty scared of the law!

-The teachers I spoke with kept talking about the standardized testing, students must pass a test in the 11th grade to enter college...and in 8th grade to enter high school. This is a very serious test and teachers feel all they do is "teach to the test" (sounds familliar!)

Sorry about the typos, I only have a few minutes to use the computer and am always in such a rush!

Adios!
Megan

Sad Story

Well I haven't updated my blog because I haven't really known what to say!

The past week has been pretty crazy. I couldn't decide if I should post or not what I've been going through but after a week of reflection I think you should know what's up....

Last weekend I had planned to go on a canyoning tour with a couple friends from language school. I was signed up but didn't have my money in last minute so at the last minute went on a coffee tour instead..right...very boring but hey, good coffee.

Well much to my surprise my two friends (Tammy and Tessa) didn't return to school on Monday and I knew something wasn't quite right.

Turns out, on the tour they were repelling down a waterfall and a 'avalanche' of water came and, well...killed a family of five on the tour with them....a Costa Rican mom, dad and three children. It is a natural phenomenon and nothing anyone could control. There were five survivers: the two guides, my two friends and the 5 year old daughter of the family. It has been a difficult week considering I was almost on the tour and my friends spent several days in the hospital having watched a family of five die. They were apparently fighting for their lives for a few hours.

I haven't been able to find the news online, it was all over the news down here. Some people have said they found it but it doesn't say two Americans survived. They haven't reported that because it my hurt the tourism industry apparently.

Feel free to comment and please let me know if you find any news. The family was from Naranjo, a small town between San Jose and Arenal Volcano, close to Sarchi or San Ramon if you know Costa Rica. As of now I'm doing pretty good...I look forward to being back home with my family. Thanks for keeping updated on my trip. My Spanish has improved tremendously!!

Pura Vida!
Megan

A day in my life

My day consists of waking up at 6 am. I take a very, very cold shower and get ready for the day. Flora has breakfast and coffee ready at exactly 630 sharp. I usually eat alone because Juan Gabriel is still sleeping, and Flora doesn´t eat much...so I study for the day. Between 7 and 720 I catch the bus to school. There are many other students on the bus and it drops us off at the botom of a huge hill! We walk to school another half mile or so up hill. Then we are broken into leveled Spanish classes of four students and one teacher from 8 to noon. There is a break at 10 for coffee.

At noon there is a break for lunch then we begin an afternoon activity at 1230. Sometimes games, or a lecture. After school a group of us usually goes somewhere by bus to walk around, hang out and meet and talk with locals.

I have my own keys to the house, and Flora feeds me dinner whenever I get home....usually between 6 and 7. We have great conversations in the evenings! We call our moms here our "Tico Moms" (Tico and Tica are the names Costa Ricans call themselves). Last night my Tico Mom, sister and I sat on the bed eating ice cream and laughing, it felt like home!

We speak Spanish most of the time, which is very difficult because my vocabulary is not very big!

Yesterday we had a lecture on the Costa Rica education system. It was great! They boast to have a 95% literacy rate and have "more teachers than police." The country also has no army. The main problem right now is theft. Apparently by law they can´t hold people in jail if they can´t pay the fine.

Most teachers in Costa Rica have had 4 to 8 years of college! Public Universities are free for Costa Ricans.

I will update more on education after our conversation with teachers next week.

Pura Vida!

Traditional Games

Today after class some local Cosa Rican (Costarricense) children came to our school. The teachers (maestras) taught us some traditional games the children play in school. It was very fun! We sang songs and played games, some similar to games in the US. A favorite in Costa Rica is Jacks. We also had races similar to 'gunny sack' races. We got a lot of information to take back and use in our classes and had a blast! The games were all explained in Spanish. So many times I didn´t understand what was happening and relied on watching everyone else. I prayed they wouldn´t call on me. I often understand how my students feel! All is good. Esta Bien.


Pura Vida!
Megan

PS. I just used spell check and everything was wrong except the few Spanish words I used!

First UPDATE

Well...I finally found an internet cafe to update my experience here. And what an experience it is! The first two days were major culture shock. My host family picked me up from the airport and I spent the entire weekend with them speaking only in Spanish. Tito and Flora, my host parents, are wonderful! They are an older couple with three grown children- Nelson, Alejandra and Juan Gabriel. Juan Gabriel still lives at home, but Nelson and Alejandra are married with children. They visit the house often.

We live in Carrillos de Poas. Its a small village near the base of Volcan Poas, an active volcano in Costa Rica. The town is very close to school, a 20 minute walk or 5 minute cab ride or bus ride but it is at the top of a VERY, VERY big hill. The bus drops you off at the bottom. It is not safe to walk alone up the hill so I have made friends and we share a taxi from Carrillos.

The food is very excellent. They make a huge breakfast and dinner for me and I usually eat alone. The common plate is a 'casado' which means marriage. It is meat, rice, beans, plantains and corn tortillas. The biggest shock was that first cold shower. And cold does not describe it!

I began my classes in Spanish this morning and it was a very humbling experience. My Spanish is no bueno!

I have so much to say, but little time! I will try to check back in a couple of days. It has been fun to meet all the teachers, school psychologists, counselors and social workers in my program.
More information to come! We start our lectures on the education system later this week.
Adios!
Megan