Costa Rica/OER

Policies Survey notes:

Costa Rica noted that it runs OER projects.

Overview

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica) is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Its capital is San Jose Among Latin American countries, Costa Rica ranks 4th in terms of the 2007 Human Development Index, and 48th worldwide. Costa Rica is ranked 5th in the world in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, up from the 15th place in 2006. In 2007 the government of Costa Rica stated that they want Costa Rica to be the first country to become carbon neutral by 2021. Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong constitution. Although there are claims that the country has had more than 115 years of uninterrupted democracy, their presidential election history shows otherwise. Nonetheless, the country has had at least fifty-nine years of uninterrupted democracy, making it one of the most stable countries in the region. Costa Rica has been able to avoid the widespread violence that has plagued most of Latin America. Costa Rica has a population of 4,100,000 of which 94% are White (including Mestizo), 3% are Black/Afro-Caribbean, 1% Amerindian 1%, Chinese and 1% other. The exact amount, however, is not known because the Costa Rican census combines whites and Mestizos in one category. The white population is primarily of Spaniard ancestry with significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish and Polish descent. Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent. The majority of the Afro-Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers, as well as slaves who were brought during the Atlantic slave trade. The indigenous or Amerindian population numbers around 1%, or over 41,000 individuals. A significant portion of the population descends from a bi-racial mix of local Amerindians and Spaniards, most live in secluded indian reservations in the Cordillera de Talamanca or Guanacaste. Christianity is the predominant religion in Costa Rica, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion as guaranteed by the Constitution of 1949. Some 92% of Costa Ricans are Christian and like many other parts of Latin America, Protestant denominations have been experiencing rapid growth. However, three in four Costa Ricans still adhere to Roman Catholicism. The only official language is Spanish.

Further information

For further general information see Wikipedia:Costa Rica/OER.

Education in Costa Rica/OER

For a general description of education in Costa Rica/OER see Education:Costa Rica/OER.

e-learning

For a description more focussed to e-learning see E-learning:Costa Rica/OER.

OER Initiatives in Costa Rica/OER

No official, public OER policy can be found in Costa Rica. However, there are a number of related initiatives. For example, through the Distance State University (UNED), an autonomous, public higher education institution, Costa Rica is participating in an international project called Oportunidad (Opportunity). Institutions from Latin America and the European Union participate in this project, which seeks to create a common ground in higher education by increasing the use of open educational resources (OERs) and practices (OEPs). Oportunidad started in January 2012 and ends in June 2014.

References

Reports

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