Costa Rica and Costa Rican Education
Costa Rica and its Education
Costa Rica is one of my favorite countries in the America continent, there are tons of appealing and new things attract me, not just the beautiful scenes of Costa Rica, but also the special cultures. Through this blog post, I will introduce the background of Costa Rica, and more importantly, I will engage my own major, education, to this blog post, and to find out the educational system or higher education in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. It has a population of around 4.5 million, of who nearly a quarter live in the metropolitan area of the capital and largest city, San Jose. Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by indigenous people before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. It remained a peripheral colony of the empire until independence as part of the short-lived First Mexican Empire, followed by membership in the united provinces of America, from which it formally declared sovereignty in 1847. Since then, Costa Rica has remained among the most stable, prosperous, and progressive nations in Latin America. Following a brief civil war, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without any standing army.
Education in Costa Rica can be divided into three parts, pre-education, elementary education, secondary education, and college education.
Education is generally free in Costa Rica, and every citizen is obligated to receive education by law. Thus, the literacy rate is one of the highest of all Latin American countries. The literacy rate is 95% in residents age 15 and older, and the country boasts more teachers than policemen. In a report by the World Economic Forum in 2015, the Costa Rican education system was also ranked highest in Latin America. In 1869, Costa Rica made education both free and mandatory for all its citizens. Since that time, the country's education system has grown to include more than four thousand schools. Over the last three decades, the country has invested nearly 30% of its national budget in primary and secondary education.
Furthermore, the elementary education is 6-year-education in Costa Rica which is free and compulsory, but the following secondary education which is 5 or 6-year education gives students more choices. The first three years of high school are dedicated to general education while the remaining two or three provide students with specialized training. Students could pick one specification, either the academic schools which last 5 years or the technical schools which last 6-year-long and both institutions give students a title in arts or sciences and a Costa Rican Bachillerato (high-school) Diploma, which is accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education.
There are more than 60 universities in Costa Rica, and 5 of them are public universities in Costa Rica, all Public universities offer degree programs according to their specialty and by law. Each university offers certain degree programs and emphasis. And there are still some private universities. When compared with public universities in Costa Rica, private institutions are smaller and often specialize in a particular subject area.
In addition, according to recent studies and the statistics, I found that nowadays, more and more American students head to Costa Rica for higher education and the different cultures experiences. Costa Rica has ranked the eighth most popular study abroad destination for American students since 2012. I analyzed several reasons why American students choose to go there.
There are a lot of Americans who choose to study abroad in Costa Rica due to several reasons. Firstly, the Ticos are famous with their relaxed and peaceful lifestyle. In fact, Costa Rica is among the very few countries with abolished army. Due to their positive attitude, diet, and environment, the Ticos have the life expectancy that exceeds 80 years. Therefore, there is a wide range of people of different ages and ethnicities and a student in Costa Rica has the chance to explore a lot of different cultures. Secondly, when the army was abolished in 1949, the Ministry of culture replaced it with an “army of teachers”, which meant that the money previously meant for military investments were now used for educational purposes. Costa Rica holds the highest literacy rates in Latin America with its 97%. Therefore, not only the education system is on a very high level, but the studying environment is composed of educated people. Additionally, being in such environment could help with learning the local language more easily. Immersing with people speaking Spanish will definitely show faster results than learning the language back in the U.S. This is quite beneficial since Spanish is among the top five most spoken languages in the world and knowing it well would be advantageous when trying to find a job. Thirdly, Costa Rica is medically developed as well. The World Health Organization puts it above the U.S. in its ranking. The majority of medicine in Costa Rica is not only of the highest quality but is very affordable too, costing less than medicine in America. Fourthly, the education in Costa Rica is more affordable than in the U.S. Renting an apartment could cost less than $600. All living expenses will be a lot less than if one were studying in Europe and Australia, for example. Finally, Costa Rica could offer stunning aspects of nature. The Ticos do not only enjoy hot weather throughout the whole year but they are also lucky enough to experience one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. It has a lot of rare species including the smoky jungle frog and the beautiful zebra longwing butterfly, It has mountains, rainforests, 14 volcanoes of which 6 are active, and an impressive amount of Natural Parks. This is an advantage for all students studying ecology, biology, zoology, or other environmental sciences. However, even if one is a Law student, he or she will still enjoy the diverse and colorful nature that Costa Rica has to offer.
Reference:
Reference:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica#Geography
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