By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Minister of Public Education, Giselle Cruz, met Sharon Day, Ambassador of the U. S. to maintain the commitment to cooperation in education.

According to the Ministry, since the beginning of the presidency of President Carlos Alvarado, in March 2018, the U.S. government has donated 160 scholarships to students and 10 scholarships to English teachers.

"The U.S. Embassy and the Ministry of Education have a historic and consolidated cooperative relationship, particularly in teaching English," said the Ministry in its statement.

Recently, the U.S. government has financed the Alliance for Bilingualism program, in areas such as professional development, scholarships, internships, and the development of teaching materials, among others.

Through the Peace Corps, assistance has been given in the preparation of high-schools students' final tests, preparation of learning materials for an open education. As well as in cooperating in developing teaching methods on topics such as English language, entrepreneurship, affectivity, sexuality, and youth leadership.

Another of the programs, which has received support from the U.S. Embassy, is TeachHer, whose goal is to involve adolescents in professions that are traditionally developed by men, such as Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, know as STEAM.

According to the Ministry, the TeacHer program has been developed in 108 schools and 101 high schools across the country, through video conferences, workshops, talks, scholarships and the development of support networks.

Recently, the Costa Rican - USA Foundation for Cooperation, known as CRUSA,  announced that five students from the National Scientific College System are beneficiaries of CRUSA-AFS scholarship program to study for one year in the United States, as A.M. Costa Rica reported on August 15th.



The students who won the AFS-CRUSA 2019-2020 scholarships are:

 - Raúl Villalobos-Vega, from Scientific High School of Guanacaste.

 - Chelsea Rodríguez-Alvarado from Scientific High School of Puntarenas.

 - Daniela Alvarado-Andrade from Scientific High School of San Pedro.

 - José Antonio Ortega-Padilla from Scientific High School of Cartago.

 - Tatiana Marcela González–González from Scientific High School of San Carlos.

These scholarships are the result of the alliance between CRUSA and AFS Costa Rica, with the support of the United States embassy.

AFS is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes intercultural learning through exchange trips or volunteer work in other countries.

“It is vitally important for the CRUSA Foundation to support the country in its efforts to advance toward a knowledge-based industry, so we 100 percent support the financing for these scholarships as an incentive to fortify the human talent in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” said Flora Montealegre, the Executive Delegate of the CRUSA Foundation. “It is important that, as a country, we generate joint initiatives to deal with the needs involved in educating high-quality human talent as they pertain to the realities of the production environment.”

According to CRUSA, the selected students went through an arduous selection process and had to meet a series of requirements. For example, be a sophomore-year student, show academic excellence, and have a command of the English language. In addition, qualities such as leadership, assertiveness, and interest in inter-cultural matters were assessed.

On average, each scholarship is worth $13,000 and includes transportation, lodging, food, and a stipend for personal expenses for one full academic year.

More information on CRUSA can be found at its site here.*


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How else, can the United States government support learning in Costa Rica?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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