Do You Speak English?
Maybe Not If You Teach
It In Costa Rica
Less than 10 percent of
English teachers in
Costa Rica's public
schools and colleges
have a good command of
the language, according
to the Ministerio de
Educación Pública (MEP)
- Ministry of Public
Education.
Only 315 out of 3,193
English teachers from
educational institutions
across the country were
able to show they could
give good lessons to
their students.
Most teachers showed
serious weaknesses in
one or several of the
areas of reading,
comprehension, speaking
and writing, said the
study, carried out with
the Fundación Costa
Rica, which promotes
English here.
The problems were worse
in more developed
tourist areas, where
there is a growing
demand for
English-speaking staff,
the study showed.
Several recent polls
among Costa Rican
businesses show that the
country's labour market
suffers from a lack of
good English speakers.
The deputy education
minister, Alejandrina
Mata, told reporters
that the ministry was
working with
universities to increase
the number of
improvement classes for
teachers. |
