IB Diploma Programme graduates from the public school system in Costa Rica
The International Baccalaureate is pleased to announce that 33 public school students, of the Liceo Experimental Bilingüe de Palmares in Palmares, Alajuela, Costa Rica were awarded IB diplomas this March.
These 33 students are the first the IB Diploma Programme graduates from the public school system in Costa Rica, and in all of Central America.
The public school initiative in Costa Rica is funded by the Asociación de Colegios del BI de Costa Rica (ASOBITICO).
ASOBITICO was founded in 2008 by the five private and two public IB World Schools within Costa Rica, and is a member of the Association of IB World Schools. The association is made up of educators, academics, entrepreneurs and citizens who share the common vision of supporting the improvement of public education in Costa Rica by implementing the IB Diploma Programme in the Costa Rican public schools. ASOBITICO’s goal is to provide an IB education in 20 Costa Rican public schools by the year 2014, graduating between 800 and 1000 students every year.
“Our dream as an organization is that one day the IB Diploma Programme will be available to any student in Costa Rica who has the desire and the ability to tackle it, regardless of their socio-economic status,”
said Steve Aronson, president of ASOBITICO.
“This is why we are dedicated to bringing the IB Diploma Programme to the Costa Rican public school system. The success of Liceo Experimental Bilingüe de Palmares proves that our goal of implementing the programme in 20 Costa Rican public schools by 2014 is completely feasible.”
The IB Diploma Programme is currently offered at five private high schools in Costa Rica, and the programme has been in the country for over twenty years. However, it was not until 2008 that the IB Diploma Programme began in two Costa Rican public schools: Liceo de Costa Rica and Liceo Experimental Bilingue de Palmares.