In November 1976, a symposium took place to cover the topic “The Costa Rica of the Year 2000.” This event made possible the participation of renowned Costa Rican educators who, before, during, or after the fact, expressed relevant concepts and principles referring to the various sectors of the national “duty.” The organization of such valuable material, with aims to put into practice the largest possible part of the ideas discussed, would undoubtedly result in a great benefit for our nation. Of profound content, amplitude and soundness were the references directed towards the educational sector, the transcendence of which is indisputable.

Transcribed below are some of the statements compiled which, in turn, constitute an eloquent and unquestionable testimony of the urgent need to launch a serious movement to find the most convenient changes that our nation requires in educational material. Yet the world of today, in which innovations take place carelessly, daily putting our value systems to the test, teaches us that this is no longer enough. We need new tools and require norms and principles adequate for the new reality. We must widen the scope of our vision. It is time to advocate a revolution of thought: to put our reasoning capabilities to the service of anticipation. That is to say, to know, and also willingly build, the world that is to come. Militantly, we must alter our retrospective mode of seeing things and perfect it with an alert and visionary attitude for anticipation. This in every order.

In the field of education, it is imperative to avoid teaching based on a concept of the student as a passive and empty receptacle into which are poured, from magisterial and stale standards, dosages of prefabricated, alienating (1) culture.
From the Costa Rican President’s participation in the symposium, we quote the following paragraph:

“I understand in equal manner, that none of these actions would have the desired success if we don’t come to count with an educational system capable of maintaining the most legitimate and authentic values of our nationality, to propagate the new attitudes required to overcome the difficulties and, finally, to bestow upon our nation the new men needed both in the technical, as well as the political and cultural fields.” (2)

The national press also provided its contribution. From it, we selected the following text:

“It is necessary to proceed toward an inspection of our national education from elementary schools to universities in such a way that it’s possible to uncover the numerous and enormous failures through which a mass of semi-illiterate, ignorant and aggressive individuals are presently slipping.

It is necessary to probe deeply not only into the mainstream programs and ideas that are theoretically the norm of our national education, but rather its instrumentality, the procedure that translates them into reality, the form and the manner in which these programs and ideas are really applied and incorporated into the formation of the young.” (3)

People with vast experience in the field of education express important concepts, and one of them is reflected on the citation that appears as follows