Costa Rica

►. Level of resilience: Learner

Costa Rica has introduced several measures to strengthen student voice in recent years. In 2009, an executive decree introduced new arrangements for student elections and the functioning of student government. A Department of Student Participation within the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) is responsible for promoting processes and spaces in which students can develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to contribute to school improvement, and participate as citizens in the wider world. Between 2009 and 2015, the MEP collaborated with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Institute for Training and Studies in Democracy to organise a series of workshops that familiarised students and teachers with the new regulations and processes. The MEP also collects data on the results of school elections to monitor progress in areas such as gender parity and the inclusion of students from an immigrant background. Student elections are now held across the majority of Costa Rica’s primary and secondary schools, involving over one million students in democratic processes from an early age.

In 2019, the MEP organised its first national student dialogues. Student government representatives from Costa Rica’s 27 Regional Directorates of Education met with the MEP’s interdisciplinary teams to discuss issues such as student well-being, national testing, and dual education (Presidential Office of Costa Rica, 2019_[6]). The 2020 student dialogues were held virtually in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister of Education presented the country’s school re-opening strategy to 1 600 student representatives, who provided feedback and shared their concerns regarding safety measures and university entrance exams. The MEP also launched an online survey which allowed all school students to give their feedback on the re-opening strategy (Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica, 2020_[7]) .

Further reading: Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica (n.d._[8]), Reglamento para la Organización y Funcionamiento del Gobierno Estudiantil [Student Government Regulations], https://www.mep.go.cr/sites/default/files/page/adjuntos/reglamento-gobiernos-estudiantiles.pdf (accessed 1 April 2021).

►. Level of resilience: Learner

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Education worked alongside the National Council of People with Disabilities (Conapdis) and the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (Tecnológico de Costa Rica) to develop an accessible virtual learning strategy. The Route to Digital Accessibility (Ruta a la Accesibilidad Digital) was launched in June 2020 while many schools were still closed. It aims to provide teachers and other education professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to produce accessible digital resources for learners with disabilities. The strategy was developed after an evaluation of the digital resources launched in the early stages of the pandemic highlighted the need for more accessible resources. The first phase of the strategy involved nine online workshops that focused on accessibility for the visually impaired, which brought together 720 participants. In addition, a group of 40 visually impaired teachers received training on the use of audio and video-conferencing tools. In this sense, the strategy seeks to enable teachers with disabilities to make the most of digital technologies at the same time as ensuring that digital resources are accessible to all students.

Further reading: Ministry of Public Education of Costa Rica (2020_[9]), Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Conapdis y MEP se alían para mejorar accesibilidad digital [Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Conapdis and the MEP join forces to improve digital accesibility], https://www.mep.go.cr/noticias/tecnologico-costa-rica-conapdis-mep-se-alian-mejorar-accesibilidad-digital (accessed 1 April 2021).