No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveEducation Suffered Various Setbacks

Education Suffered Various Setbacks

DESPITE an eager announcement byPresident Abel Pacheco and PublicEducation Minister Manuel AntonioBolaños to “relaunch” education byputting computer labs in rural high schools– thus bridging the gap between rich andpoor students – many schools throughoutthe country opened the year without basicinfrastructure, such as desks.When classes began in February manyschools, particularly in rural areas, werelacking not only desks, but also teachers,money and facilities including doors andadequate roofs and bathrooms.After 2003, when teachers went onperiodic strikes totaling more than threemonths, Education Ministry officials saidthey were committed to making 2004 ayear free of disorganization.BEFORE the first month of schoolwas over, a school shooting in Tibás, northof San José, left two 11-year-old studentswith leg wounds, apparently hit by a straybullet from a gun inside a 17-year-old student’sbackpack.The shooting rapidly inspired theEducation Ministry to announce a controversialpolicy encouraging school administratorsto search the bags of students suspectedof possessing drugs or weapons.Ironically, just before the shooting, theMinistry of Education and the JudicialBranch had announced a new agreement tobring alternative conflict-resolutionlessons into schools in an effort to reduceviolence in schools and society at large.MINISTRY officials also announcedcontroversial sexual-education reforms.Despite being pitched as a way to addressteenage pregnancy and AIDS transmission,the new policy guide for teachers onlymentions pregnancy once and AIDS twice.Although the 22-page guides focus onvalues and ethics, they were released withoutapproval from the Catholic Church.In April, the Ministry of PublicEducation announced another guide tobring more structure to the discussion ofdrug-use prevention.In June, data were released indicatingthe number of foreign students in CostaRican public and private schools has morethan tripled in 20 years. Most of thisincrease came from Nicaraguan,Colombian and U.S. students.THE “Education without Borders”program, which works to help this sometimes-marginalized population, celebratedthe end of its second two-year phase inOctober and moved into its third phase.While private funds continued to flowto that program, complaints continuedthroughout the year about lack of funds forinfrastructure and teacher pay.Lack of funding for education was onemain topic at November’s 14th LatinAmerican-Iberian Summit of Heads ofState and Government, which broughtleaders from throughout Latin Americaand Spain to Costa Rica.With an official theme of “Education forProgress,” the summit produced an accordamong leaders for “the conversion of a percentageof (national) debts into investmentin the education systems of our countries.”Costa Rica is only now recuperatingfrom education cuts made in the 1980s,and reaching education-investment levelsof the 1970s, according to economists.FAILING government investment ineducation is one reason Costa Ricans gavefor the final slap the country’s school systemreceived at the end of the year. Only50% of students passed the 11th-year stateexams, or exámenes de bachillerato, neededto graduate from high school.Of an estimated 22,000 students whotook the bachillerato exams this year, only11,000 passed by scoring 68.5% or higher,according to ministry estimates.Students, teachers and parents held amarch last week to protest the scores,demanding the tests be re-graded on a curve,a demand the Education Ministry rejected.Students, teachers and parents maintainedthe test is poorly constructed andpunishes students for the shortcomings ofthe Costa Rican educational system.

Trending Now

Massive Cocaine Seizure at Costa Rica’s Moín Terminal Targets UK

Costa Rican police intercepted 810 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment at the Moín Container Terminal in Limón headed for the United...

Venezuela Accuses El Salvador of Torturing Deported Migrants From U.S.

Sexual abuse, daily beatings, rotten food: The government of Nicolás Maduro on Monday denounced “torture” against Venezuelan migrants sent by the United States to...

A Costa Rica Expat and the Devil on His Shoulder

Everyone has a dark side—that little devil in your conscience that says, go ahead and do it! even though you know it’s wrong. It...

Empty Stadiums and Inequality Mar Women’s Copa América

Nearly empty stadiums, players' criticism of the organization, and demands for equality in South American football have marked the 2025 Women's Copa América in...

Costa Rica’s Poás Volcano Park Reopening to Tourists With Safety Measures

The Poás Volcano National Park will reopen its doors to tourism starting July 30, after  scientific entities reported a decrease in volcanic activity. This was...

Why I Choose Real Life in Costa Rica Over the AI Hype

When it comes to AI, call me OG. Old school. I sometimes wish I could go back to a time before it existed. Artificial...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica