The methodologies and teaching techniques used in Costa Rica have not changed for a long time and this is reflected in a recent report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
According to the document, only 64 of 125 countries have managed to get at least 50% of their young people to finish high school. Costa Rica is not on this list, since the percentage of children who manage to finish school barely reaches 33%.
Rocío Solís, president of the Costa Rican Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO, indicates that changes are needed in the teaching methodology, since the context surrounding young people has changed over the years.
Young people and children get all the information from the Internet and social networks, educators have to adapt to the new times and show them the usefulness of their subjects in everyday life. We have stayed behind, with the methodology of the eighties,”
said Solís.
In the recent UNESCO report, Costa Rica is above 51 nations on this issue, but below 73, which surpass it in number of high school graduates.
Another of the great challenges in Costa Rica, according to UNESCO, is to improve the parameters of teacher training.
New professionals should know how to motivate students in the classroom, master technology, know the different stages of development and the characteristics of the population they chose to work with,”
says a statement from the UNESCO Costa Rica office.
In Costa Rica, around 11,000 teachers graduate each year.