Public Schools for Children

Despite all the government funding that goes into public education for children, the primary education system is not so good. The school rooms and facilities are often old and the facilities are in poor shape. Not to mention that resources are scarce and the quality of teachers is less than adequate in most cases. This is not to say that you cannot find a decent or extraordinary teacher in the public system.

If the normal teacher is sick or unavailable sometimes the classes are cancelled simply because they cannot find a substitute. Also, the teachers in public schools have been known to go on strike leaving kids out of school for a while, then they have to make up the time when all the other kids are on vacation.

To be very honest a child that comes from a public school is much less prepared for college or any type of further education. My husband went to public school, when he was a child there were hardly any private school options and at that time not very many Costa Ricans could have afforded this option anyhow. He says that he was one of about 40 who graduated from highschool out of a class of 90. He also struggled his first few years in the university since he was not well prepared by the public system.

Public schools do not direct much attention to learning other languages. They perhaps may work some very basic English into their curriculum.

The hours in public school are usually shorter which means kids have more spare time to get into trouble. Often times it is generalized that public school kids come out on the news segments for dealing drugs, getting involved in complicated sex acts, and almost killing each other in fights. I have even seen a young girl have her ear bitten off by another girl on the nightly news. There are lots of scandals surrounding public schools.

Putting your child as a foreigner into a public school may not be such a good idea. For one, they may not be accepted. Secondly, they may find the subject matter below their current levels even though it is in another language.  They also will not be learning very much in their native language anymore. Almost anyone foreign or Costa Rican that can tries to get their children into private school if they can afford it, it is a very good investment in your child's future and there are tons of excellent bilingual and even trilingual private school options.