Central America
COSTA RICA
Lic. Rita Meoño - Lic. Rocío Monge Corrales
Universidad de Costa Rica
PRESENT SITUATION OF SERVICE LEARNING IN COSTA RICA
The stability of the country has certainly been tested, as it had to resist
the bastings in the economic and in the political and social area (...) Consistent
with our democratic tradition, conflicts are still beeing dealt with through
negotiations and agreements between the government and other groups of the
civic society. However the present problem is the effective performance of
these, locked by the affected interests..
A close observation of the principal indicators warns about the fact that 38,7
per cent of the homes in Costa Rica are showing some kind of poverty, either
for lack of incomes or for not being able to satisfy any basic need: health,
housing, education or access to services such as potable water or electricity.
In rural areas, 46,1 per cent of the homes is in this situation. (...)
One of the main factors to break down the vicious circle of poverty reproduction
in the medium and long term, and contribute to social mobility is EDUCATION.
In this situation the principal challenge still is the universalization of
school population whose total rate has hardly reached 64,7 per cent for year
2000 (including all branches) Even though the number of students entering high
school has increased, the dropout number has not been improved The most critical
moments are the transition from elementary to high school and the last years
of the secondary level.
As it has been stated by the different National Reports, Costa Rica is a highly
literate country, but poorly educated, and will hardly advance in the development
of our society with an average school age hardly over the complete primary
level
Among the drop out reported causes, the lack of interest in study and discourage
regarding school failure seem to be as important as economic limitations.
This raises the issues questions related with limitations
presented by the educational system in order to retain students, and with the
curriculum quality and pertinence.
In this frame is where we consider that the concept of 'service learning' (...)
represents a real option to strength an education according to the demands
of the XXI Century in Costa Rica and the rest of the world.
In searching for this higher quality learning, but convinced that education
must accomplish with an unavoidable ethic component such as it is the development
of participating and solidary people, committed with the problems and needs
of their country, many important efforts have been carried out in Costa Rica
such as:
University Community Work in the University of Costa Rica
The purpose of the University of Costa Rica is to form people to be able to
face life, with its challenges and limitations, and with all its opportunities,
as ethics and responsible beings, both in their professional practice as
in their personal life; just and generous beings capable of evolving and
making the society in which they are living in evolve, without losing its
human essence.
We are convinced that the University Community Work (UCW) in The University
of Costa Rica, contributes in a special manner to this purpose. (...)
27 years ago -in the prolematization and change context of the III Universitary
Conference-, and in the haven of the new Social Action Authorities, on March
15nth 1975, the University Community Work was born.
Settled by ORGANIC STATUTE- as a compulsory requisite for graduation for every
University of Costa Rica student, it is not another academic practical; it
is a fundamental pillar in the humanistic formation
Each student who enrolls for the option of Bachalleauratte or University Graduated
Courses must offer 300 hours of service, while those students enrolled for
Diploma must accomplish 150 hours.
The UCW is independent from other academically practices, and since the moment
in which he is enrolled, the student has 12 months to carry it out. Since its
beginning, this was conceived as an interdisciplinary activity that, with the
participation of students from different university studies in multiple institutional
supported projects directed by teachers, allows to offer as a service to the
national community the Academy doing , which ,in turn, nourishes from the wealth
and the wisdom that comes from the national interacting groups This Social
Action style is materialized in projects, mainly addressed to those groups
and areas in higher social vulnerability, or rather, those strategic areas
in the development and wealth of the Nation.
The projects present close correspondence to the profile and nature of the
teaching and research activities of the proposing colleges and schools.
(...) It consists, then, in a fundamental academic activity in which, through
dialogues of knowledge and ignorance, the future teachers and citizens assess,
propose and carry out concrete support and community solving problem tasks.
It accomplishes, so, country service aims, at the same time as it develops
formation aims as it frames values and responsibility and social solidarity
attitudes, where individual and collective ethic are melted (...)
It is a free service and does not substitute the professional practices of
each career.
During 27 years a total of 489 UCW projects have been developed all along the
national territory which comply in nearly 11.000.000 of hours of service approximately,
and which include in different academic areas in which the University of Costa
Rica is organized: The Arts, Basic Sciences, Social Sciences, Agricultural
Sciences, Health and Engineering. Moreover it includes, projects developed
in Regional headquarters and University Campus. It should be noted that some
projects have been sustained for many years, as the impact of the projects
has been oriented mainly to the areas of education, health, sociocultual, environment,
economics, farming industry, technology transfer and governmental politics
(...)
At present, an average of 2000 students per year participate in these projects,
offering approximately 600.000 service hours to the society of Costa Rica and
achieving direct benefits for approximately 250.000 people annually.
Voluntary Program of the University of Costa Rica
As part of the integral and humane formation of the University of Costa Rica,
and looking forward to reaching out to the national community the program
was born 1997.
It has become part of the daily option for the university community, apart
from being an option for a possible solution to problems and specific situations,
so that this serves as support and complements the numerous actions that this
house of study develops along this line.
This initiative aims at rescuing students' creative leisure involving them
on a voluntary and flexible basis, in projects that foster solidarity and personal
development so that they can come closer and become sensitive to national,
communal and regional problems at the same time as provide a viable solution.
Both internal and external students to this university participate in the program.
However, there are specific projects that demand the support of students in
the sixth semester or attending postgraduate courses.
Thus there is participation from teachers and retired teachers, graduate students,
administrators and members of the community at large, including foreign students
and teachers.
86 projects have been carried out up to December 2001, both group and individual
ones which include mainly the areas of environment, health, education, and
support to at risk populations.
The funding of these projects comes from the joint support of the University,
the community- mainly lodging and feeding- and the enrolment fee that foreign
students who are interested in participating must pay.
Examples of projects:
Environmental education camping in the Guanacaste Area. Regulation of public
space use -- capacity for tourist flow.
Location and behavior study of dolphins in the area of Gandoca-Manzanillo,
Limon.
Location of absorving flora in Santa María de Volcán, Buenos
Aires, Punta Arenas.
Geologic study of rocks for the setting of the entrance dock in the Cabo Blanco
Reserve. Paquera, Punta Arenas.
Caring for turtles at the Tortuguero National Park.
Study of the nutritional condition of Indian populations in Chirripo.
Communicational strategies for the Coco Islands.
Plant recollection in the Poas Volcano for the National Museum.
Architectural design of the entrance bridge at the Manuel Antonio National
Park.
Student Communal Service
This educative action has been going on in Costa Rica since 1995, by agreement
of the Student Superior Council from the Ministry of Public Education. At
present it is assigned to the Department of Student Council from this Ministry
and is conceived as a service and collaboration with the community program
and , at the same time, as a means to help high school students form in their
values.
Student Communal service is established as a requisite to opt for baccalaureate
and students in day schools and technical schools must participate in these
programs, projects or activities that promote personal and social development
and contribute to the solution of communal and institutional problems.
Through this service education is projected towards the satisfaction of main
needs of human beings, the community and the institution at the same time as
promoting the learning of ethical, social and civic values with emphasis in
creativity, social justice, production, participative democracy, human solidarity,
keeping of the environment and peace.
Each high school student must comply with 30 communal service hours in well
defined individual or group projects, previously approved by a committee from
the Student Communal Service established for this purpose in each educational
institution and supervised by tutor teachers.
This work is done annually by all students from the 3.500 institutions of diverse
education distributed along the 20 regions.
National Voluntary Program
The National Voluntary Program is a strategy from Social Development that
promotes the construction of healthy societies through social participation,
community management and the relationship and networking between civic society,
public and private sectors.
The National Voluntary Program intends to foster voluntary work from the Instituto
Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS) through institutional compression that facilitates
communication and formation so that the competence and professionalism of voluntary
work is identified, acknowledged and highlighted and in this way create a favorable
sense in the public and official opinion on voluntary action.
In this way a culture of social participation is formed, developed and consolidated,
over the basis of our social reality, responding to the needs of articulation
between the different social sectors and the ones dedicated to social development.
Moreover, there are three tangible products that constitute the strategic lines:
the information System about voluntary work, Leadership and the Creation and
strengthening of nets.
This program works to create a permanent public structure of coordination.
A coordination frame that supports and fosters social volunteers. It produces
data and statistics related to the voluntary sector in the country. The former
responds to the interest of defining a legal frame that defines the concept
of voluntary work in Costa Rica.
In the development of community programs to end poverty we go into the tendency
of evolving from assistentialism to placing the center of attention in the
population receiving a benefit from the programs.
We also exchange and interchange the achievements of volunteers at the local
level, among neighboring countries and internationally, with the help of the
media. Moreover, we offer opportunities for establishing relationships between
volunteers, between institutions, in the specific fields, leadership and management.
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