Costa Rica Global Education Project

Virtue Foundation Donates Library of Books and Materials to Elementary School in Guanacaste to Enrich Curriculum and Support Education for Children in Grades K-6

The Escuela Gil Tablada Corea Elementary School is located in El Jobo, the second poorest town in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica on the border of Nicaragua. The school has five classrooms for grades K-6. The children in each grade share classrooms and only attend school for 3 hours a day, four days a week. While the school has electricity and access to water, the students do not have access to computers or the internet and educational resources and materials are very limited. English is one of the subjects taught at the school. Even though lunch is provided to all of the students, attendance for many is generally sporadic. Many of the children do not continue their education beyond the 6th grade as both girls and boys are encouraged to work at an early age to help support their families.

In an effort to encourage attendance generally and to stimulate in the children an interest in attending school beyond the compulsory 6th grade level, Virtue Foundation has donated a library of educationally stimulating books, activity kits, CD players and other curriculum enriching materials and supplies in both English and Spanish that also can be utilized for after-school activities. Teachers’ manuals were provided to maximize the educational impact of the books and materials. The library was created with a view toward providing a variety of resources that would stimulate and enrich the curriculum and educational environment as well as provide the children with the necessary skills that would enable and encourage them to pursue their education beyond the primary school level.

Virtue Foundation collaborated with Bolanos Bay Foundation, a non-profit organization, founded by the owners and partners of Recreo, a local residential resort community that has worked to improve the facilities at the school in El Jobo and in the surrounding community. The Bolanos Bay Foundation and Recreo will oversee the installation of the library at the school.