Education in Costa Rica: Best Practices and Beyond

Costa Rica is considered to be the most developed of the Central American countries because it has a relatively high Gross Domestic Product per capita as well as best indicators of life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, and adult literacy rate (United Nations Development Program, 1999). Much of this success has been attributed to its progressive education system. Costa Rica is one of the few countries in the world to exist without a national military system, consequently, more money can be diverted into educational programs. The adult literacy rate is near 95% and rivals the United States where the rate is approximately 99% (United Nations Development Program, 1999). In this assessment, literacy was considered the ability to read and write a basic sentence about a person’s daily activity. Although Costa Rica lacks the technological development and higher education training evident in America, it displays many aspects of best practices in education