Education in Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, the education system is considered to be one of the country’s greatest successes. In 1869, the government decided to make education free and mandatory which was funded from the wealth the state received from coffee (“Costa Rica’s Education System”). In 1948 after a brief civil war, José Figueres Ferrer was elected as the countries new president and abolished the military. Ferrer took the money that was spent on the military and reinvested it into the education system (“History”). Costa Rica boasts the highest literacy rates in Latin America, ranks 32nd the world in education according to the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report from 2008-2009 (Embassy of Costa Rica in D.C.), and has more employed teachers than police officers (“Costa Rica’s Education System”).
Costa Rica has both public and private educational institutions. The public schools are funded by the government and are free to attend. Students are required to attend classes up until the ninth grade. The school system is broken up into four levels: preschool, general education (primary and lower-secondary), upper-secondary school, and higher education. The first three two levels are free and mandatory according to the Costa Rican government and will educate students up though the ninth grade. After the ninth grade, students are eligible to participate in what is known as “diversified education.” During this time, students can pursue their passions and further their educations by taking courses in arts, academics, or technical paths. The arts and academics pathways are both two years long while the technical pathway is three years long. After completing this, students may sit for the baccalaureate examination, and if they pass, they earn a secondary school diploma. (Fernández and Del Valle)
Although the public education system is funded by a minimum of 8% of Gross Domestic Product each year and more is often spent, the system still has shortfalls (“Education in Costa Rica”). For example, many of the textbooks that students use are copies of the original since books are too expensive to purchase for everyone; other examples include a lack of afterschool programs and sports, lack of computers, and little-to-no playground equipment. These aspects tend to push parents to send their children to private schools if the can afford it (Lytle). Students in public schools wear uniforms in order to make sure that no student is discriminated upon due to his/her family’s economic status (“Costa Rica’s Education System”).
Costa Rica’s education is fairly similar to United States education system. The United States has a literacy rate of 86%, which is slightly lower than Costa Rica’s. The United States requires 12 years of schooling and higher education is optional (Find The Data) and in 2011 spent 5.224% of Gross Domestic Product on education (“Government Expenditure”). The curriculum in the public education system is similar to that of the United States—both education systems focus on mathematics, the native language, science, and social studies. But Costa Rica also mandates that their students learn English, while students in the Unites States are often only recommended to study a foreign language. The U.S. also has public and private education, and most attribute a better education with private schooling despite the high cost of tuition.
PRIVATE EDUCATION GOES HERE
Many studies have been conducted in Costa Rica to try and prove which system is superior: public education or private education. Andrés Fernández A. and Roberto Del Valle A. presented the results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures student success levels across the world. PISA studied Costa Rica in 2009 and tried to use the results to determine whether students were more successful in public or private schools. PISA measure skills in reading, mathematics and science. In the 2009 rankings, Costa Rica fell behind Chile in reading and science and behind Uruguay in mathematics. As researchers looked more specifically at Costa Rica’s own results, they found that students in private education seemed to outperform public school students. Fernández and Del Valle knew that there were unobservables influencing each student. On the survey, students were asked questions that reflected what their home life was like and how conducive their home was to learning. Students in private education tended to have their own rooms with desks, computers, and their parents had higher education levels and jobs. Fernández and Del Valle found that public versus private did not impact a student’s academic success as much as the student’s home life did. If a student had parents who were highly educated, that student would grow up in a household and learn more on the day-to-day basis and his/her parents would more than likely be able to afford a private school. On the other hand, a student could grow up with parents who had no higher education and lower incomes, would not grow up in an intellectually stimulating environment, and would attend a public school. Fernández and Del Valle concluded that neither public or private was better, but that it depended on the individual student’s home life. (Fernández and Del Valle)
Costa Rica has very fewer universities compared to the United States. The main universities are the University of Costa Rica (UCR), Instituo Tecnologico de Costa Rica (ITCR), and Universidad Nacional (UNA) (“Costa Rica Education”). There are also many other smaller private colleges, but most students choose to enroll in the larger, main universities (Odio). The country also lacks a standardized test like the SAT or ACT that is required in the United States (Odio). According to Jesy Odio, the University of Costa Rica has a fairly difficult entrance exam, but the private universities will allow a student to enroll as long as he/she is able to afford tuition. Tuition for universities is significantly lower in Costa Rica. The University of Costa Rica has over 100 undergraduate and post graduate degrees. For an undergraduate student, each credit hour costs approximately $80, and for a whole semester, a student will pay $2800 in tuition (17 credit hours) and anywhere from $500-1500 in living expenses (“Costa Rica’s Education System”).
Odio originally lived in Costa Rica and moved to the United States when she was in middle school, so she experienced both education systems. When asked which system Odio thought was better, she replied, “No education system is perfect, just like no two minds are alike.”
While Costa Rica is highly educated, they still face high levels of unemployment and poverty. According to The Costa Rica Star, who conducted a Gallup poll, 26% of households view unemployment or the threat of the matter as a major concern, a percentage which has more than tripled since 1998. Also, wages are not rising to keep up with the high cost of living. This has contributed to what is known as a “brain drain”; this term coins the events where young people (ages 18-39) immigrate to other countries in hopes of finding jobs that will pay them their economics worth. (Williams)
Males and females both have equal access to the education system, but according to data from El Financiero, women have higher levels of education that the men in their salary group.