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
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