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Published: June 17th 2006
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Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! Or at least, we're not in Round Rock Independent School District in Austin, Texas anymore! This week, I had the opportunity to visit the elementary school here in Playa Samara as well as interview the principal. It was something I've wanted to do since last summer so when my Spanish teacher gave us the homework assignment to interview someone in town, write a paper on it, and then do an oral presentation of what we learned, I jumped at the chance to visit la escuela AND have it "count" for my homework! Instead of sharing with you my very butchered Spanish version of what I observed and concluded, I thought I'd relay what I learned in a slightly different manner. Thus, I have compiled the following synopsis of my experience:
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . . you are on your way to the school to observe classrooms, only to see a class of kindergarteners across the street from the school at somebody's house, playing in their tiny backyard. (You feel a bit of deja vu because the sight is much like Captain Von Trapp driving home with the
Coral and her Classmates
This was taken during center time (which was really indoor playtime since Kinder just focuses on socialization and not academics here.) baroness to introduce her to his very proper children, only to see them swinging from trees on the drive into his estate.) You learn later on that this "field trip" was taken because Costa Rica was playing Equador in the World Cup and therefore it was imperative and certainly acceptable for the teacher to pack up the kids, toss them in the yard of one of her students, and go watch the game on TV!
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . . .the principal of the school is also the assistant principal, the secretary, and a 5th grade teacher.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . . you find 30+ students in a classroom (or you could just be in California!)
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .the children come and go fluidly in and out of their classrooms whenever the have the notion. You might also realize it when the only evidence of school safety procedures is a poster instructing how to protect yourself from contracting dengue fever.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .you go
to interview the principal of the school at 2:30 in the afternoon and he can only talk to you for a few minutes because it's his usual time to leave for the day.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .the entire country's standardized kindergarten curriculum has such "rigorous" standards as insisting that students learn to recognize numbers 0 to 10, and identify vowel letters (not sounds and not consonants). Those of you who've been out of schools a while might need a comparison: By the end of the year, Purple Sage kinders learn to recognize numbers to 100, learn all letters and sounds, write two full sentences in their draft books daily on a topic of their choosing, and begin reading!
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . . there is a hymn posted on the wall of the school's hallway.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .the teacher/principal, with his back to the class, is reviewing 5th graders for a math test the next day with computations on the chalkboard, yet nary a student is looking his way, some are packed up
ready to go, some are popping bubblegum at the back of the room, and some are asleep on their splintered, graffiti-adorned desks.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .the students spend more of their school day in the grocery store across the street than they do in the classroom.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .the building, like most structures in town, does not have solid walls. This type of structure allows the breeze to come in since there is no air conditioning. However, not a single piece of electrical equipment can be used, except the overhead light, which means not a single computer is available on the campus.
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .You ask the principal what his vision for future of the school is and he lists out things such as having the play yard improved, building a place for the students to eat (they go home for lunch now), and putting in a basketball court. He says nothing related to the concept of learning so you prompt him a bit. He offers that it would be great
Coral and I at my Graduation Party
How can we help this child have a better eduation and brighter future? to have an enclosed building for computers. (You quit while your ahead on that question.)
And the saddest of all. . .
YOU MIGHT BE IN A THIRD WORLD PUBLIC SCHOOL IF. . .you discover there is no library at the school and you cannot find a single solitary children's book in any classroom you are observing.
Friends, whether you work in the field of education or not, I hope you are as disturbed as I am about this situation. Costa Rica isn't really a country we usually think of as "third world" so if education is this bad here, I can only imagine how grim it is for other children in more remote parts of the world. As I get to know and love my little my Tica neice Coral more and more, I'm saddened to think of the future she faces when education standards and conditions are so poor. I suspect that the principal, teachers, parents, and certainly students here, have no idea how critically ill their education system really is. I struggle with how to help, but I know I will try to do something, if even to help just one child.
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