Costa Rica
This country note provides an overview of the key characteristics of the education system in Costa Rica. It draws on data from Education at a Glance 2023. In line with the thematic focus of this year’s Education at a Glance, it emphasises vocational education and training (VET), while also covering other parts of the education system. Data in this note are provided for the latest available year. Readers interested in the reference years for the data are referred to the corresponding tables in Education at a Glance 2023.
High-quality VET programmes integrate learners into labour markets and open pathways for further personal and professional development. However, the quality and importance of VET programmes differ greatly across countries. In some countries, half of all young adults (25-34 year-olds) have a vocational qualification as their highest level of educational attainment, while the share is in the low single digits in other countries. In Costa Rica, 4% of 25-34 year-olds have a VET qualification as their highest level of attainment: 2% at upper secondary level and 2% at short-cycle tertiary level (Figure 1).
Across the OECD, unemployment rates for 25-34 year-olds with vocational upper secondary attainment are lower than for their peers with general upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment. This is also the case in Costa Rica, where 8.5% of young adults with vocational upper secondary attainment are unemployed, compared to 15.9% of those with general upper secondary attainment.
Although an upper secondary qualification is often the minimum attainment needed for successful labour-market participation, some 25-34 year-olds still leave education without such a qualification. On average across the OECD, 14% of young adults have not attained an upper secondary qualification. In Costa Rica, the share is higher than the OECD average (42%).
Tertiary attainment continues to increase among the working age population. On average across the OECD, tertiary attainment is becoming as common as upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment among 25-64 year-olds. In Costa Rica, 25% of 25-64 year-olds have tertiary attainment, a larger share than those that have upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment (20%).
On average across OECD countries, 14.7% of young adults aged 18-24 are not in education, employment or training (NEET), while in Costa Rica the corresponding figure is 23.1%. Reducing NEET rates among young adults is a particularly important challenge in all countries because those who become NEET face worse labour-market outcomes later in life than their peers who remained in education or training at this age.
1. Data for upper secondary attainment include completion of a sufficient volume and standard of programmes that would be classified individually as completion of intermediate upper secondary programmes (9% of adults aged 25-34 are in this group).
2. Year of reference differs from 2022. Refer to the source table for more details.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the share of 25-34 year-olds who attained vocational upper secondary, vocational post-secondary non-tertiary or vocational short-cycle tertiary education.
Source: OECD (2023), Table A1.3. For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[1]).
Participation in high-quality early childhood education (ECE) has a positive effect on children’s well-being, learning and development in the first years of their lives. In Costa Rica, 3% of 2-year-olds are enrolled in ECE. This increases to 4% of 3-year-olds, 87% of 4-year-olds and 94% of 5-year-olds.
Compulsory education in Costa Rica starts at the age of 4 and continues until the age of 16. Students typically graduate between the ages of 17 and 18 from general upper secondary programmes. The age range for completing vocational programmes is narrower, with students typically graduating from vocational upper secondary programmes at age 18. This is different from most OECD countries, where graduates from vocational upper secondary programmes have a wider age range, reflecting the greater diversity of pathways into these programmes than for general ones.
The large majority of 15-19 year-olds across the OECD are enrolled in education. In Costa Rica, 28% of this age group are enrolled in general upper secondary education and 14% in vocational upper secondary education. A further 16% are enrolled in lower secondary programmes and 5% in tertiary programmes. This compares to an OECD average of 37% enrolled in general upper secondary programmes, 23% in vocational upper secondary programmes, 12% in lower secondary programmes and 12% in tertiary programmes (Figure 2).
1. Year of reference differs from 2021: 2020 for Argentina and South Africa; 2018 for Indonesia.
2. Excludes students enrolled at tertiary levels.
3. Breakdown by age not available after 15 years old.
4. Excludes post-secondary non-tertiary education.
Countries are ranked in descending order of the share of students enrolled in upper secondary vocational education.
Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2023), Table B1.2. For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[1]).
All OECD and partner countries devote a substantial share of their national resources to education. In 2021, Costa Rica’s government spent USD 5 851 per full-time equivalent student on public institutions (below the OECD average of USD 11 560) and USD 3 725 on private ones (OECD average: USD 6 707) in primary to tertiary education. Total government expenditure on education amounted to 12% of total government expenditure on all services in 2021, compared to 10% on average across the OECD.
On average across the OECD, total government expenditure on education grew by 2.1% between 2019 and 2020, at a slower pace than total government expenditure on all services (9.5%), which may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Costa Rica, total government expenditure on education decreased by 10.4%, while the one on all services increased by 2.9%. In addition total government expenditure on education decreased by 0.5% while the one on all services increased by 24.8%.
On average across OECD countries, more than half of government expenditure on primary to post-secondary non-tertiary education comes from subnational governments. In Costa Rica, 100% of the funding comes from the central government, after transfers between government levels.
The total compulsory instruction time throughout primary and lower secondary education varies widely from country to country (Figure 3). Across the OECD, over the course of primary and lower secondary education, compulsory instruction time totals an average of 7 634 hours, distributed over nine grades. In Costa Rica, the total compulsory instruction time is higher, at 10 240 hours, over nine grades.
On average across OECD countries, 25% of the compulsory instruction time in primary education is devoted to reading, writing and literature and 16% to mathematics. In lower secondary education, the share is 15% for reading, writing and literature and 13% for mathematics. In Costa Rica, 23% of time is devoted to reading, writing and literature and 19% to mathematics at primary level compared to 12% each to both subjects at lower secondary level.
Teachers’ salaries are an important determinant of the attractiveness of the teaching profession, but they also represent the single largest expenditure category in formal education. In most OECD countries, the salaries of teachers in public educational institutions increase with the level of education they teach, and also with experience. On average, annual statutory salaries for upper secondary teachers (in general programmes) with the most prevalent qualification and 15 years of experience are USD 53 456 across the OECD. In Costa Rica, the corresponding salary adjusted for purchasing power is USD 32 004, which is equivalent to CRC 12 272 960. Upper secondary teachers in vocational programmes have the same statutory salaries as those in general programmes in Costa Rica.
Besides average teacher salaries themselves, annual teaching time requirements, annual hours of compulsory instruction time for students, and class size also impact total spending on teacher salaries. When combined, these factors can be used to estimate an average cost of salaries per student and show the relative impact of each individual factor on total salary spending. Total teacher salary costs per primary student are USD 3 400 in Costa Rica, slightly lower than the OECD average of USD 3 614. This difference can be broken down into these four factors: lower teacher salaries reduce costs (by USD 571), above-average teaching hours reduce costs (by USD 1 670), above-average student instruction time increases costs (by USD 1 310) and smaller classes increase costs (by USD 718).
Between 2015 and 2022, statutory salaries of upper secondary teachers in general programmes (with the most prevalent qualification and 15 years of experience) declined in real terms in roughly half of all OECD countries with available data. In Costa Rica, upper secondary teachers’ salaries decreased by 39% between 2015 and 2022.
On average across OECD countries, in full-time equivalent terms, there are 14 students for every teaching staff member in general upper secondary programmes and 15 students per staff member in vocational upper secondary programmes. In Costa Rica, in full-time equivalent terms, there are 14 students per staff member in general upper secondary programmes, similar to than the OECD average. In vocational upper secondary programmes, in full-time equivalent terms, there are 13 students for every teaching staff member (slightly below the OECD average).
Note: Instruction hours for each grade refer to average hours per grade for the level of education. Numbers in square brackets refer to the total number of years for primary and lower secondary education.
1. Estimated number of hours by level of education based on the average number of hours per year, as for some subjects, the allocation of instruction time across multiple levels is flexible.
3. The number of grades in lower secondary education is three or four, depending on the track. The fourth year of pre-vocational secondary education was excluded from the calculation.
Countries and other participants are ranked in ascending order of the total number of compulsory instruction hours.
Source: OECD (2023), Table D1.1. For more information see Source section and Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (OECD, 2023[1]).
The average age of teachers varies across OECD countries. In some countries, the teaching workforce is much younger than the labour force in general, whereas in others, teachers tend to be older. In Costa Rica, 18% of teachers in general upper secondary programmes are aged 50 or older, compared to the OECD average of 39%. Teachers in vocational programmes are younger than their general programme peers their general programme peers, with 17% aged 50 or above (43% on average across the OECD).
National/central assessments (standardised tests with no consequence on students’ progression through school or certification) are more common at primary and lower secondary levels than at upper secondary level, while most OECD countries conduct national/central examinations (standardised tests with formal consequence) in the final years of upper secondary education. These national/central assessments and examinations take place at different grades and can have different periodicities, their contents may vary over years and/or across students and are not necessarily compulsory for students. In Costa Rica, there is no national/central assessment at primary level, and none at lower secondary level. At upper secondary level, there is one national/central examination that each student may be expected to take.
References
OECD (2023), Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d7f76adc-en.
OECD (2023), Education at a Glance Database, https://stats.oecd.org/.
OECD (2023), Education at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/e13bef63-en.
For more information on Education at a Glance 2023 and to access the full set of indicators, see: https://doi.org/10.1787/e13bef63-en.
For more information on the methodology used during the data collection for each indicator, the references to the sources and the specific notes for each country, see Education at a Glance 2023 Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/d7f76adc-en).
For general information on the methodology, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en).
Updated data can be found on line at https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-data-en and by following the StatLinks 2 under the tables and charts in the publication.
Explore, compare and visualise more data and analysis using the Education GPS:
https://gpseducation.oecd.org/.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD member countries.
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Source: OECD (2023), “Costa Rica: Diagram of education system”, OECD Education GPS, http://gpseducation.oecd.org/Content/MapOfEducationSystem/CRI/CRI_2011_EN.pdf
Please refer to “Costa Rica: Diagram of education system” for information on the keys.