800 people between the ages of 18 and 35 will increase their English language skills to have better job opportunities. They live across 15 communities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), such as Puntarenas, San Carlos, and San Ramón. Another 200 beneficiaries from the GAM, specifically from Santa Ana and La Unión will also be part of the program.

All the beneficiaries are living in poverty and/or extreme poverty, have graduated from High-School and currently are not working or studying. They belong to a program created by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), and ALIARSE, an organization that promotes private-public alliances.

The students are chosen from the Empléate Program and the National Employment Program (PRONAE) from the Ministry of Labor.

The initiative includes the participation of native-English speaking teachers that will come to Costa Rica from countries such as: The United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The initial 17 selected communities, are part of the 20 areas that CINDE has been working with, over the last two years. Apart from improving their English language skills, the students will also have soft skills workshops in areas such as searching for a job, how to prepare for a job interview and how to elaborate their CV’s.( Resume)

“This effort goes hand to hand with the Alliance for Bilingualism effort. Being proficient in English opens the doors to great opportunities for Costa Ricans, since it generates more employability; expands the possibilities of studying inside or outside the country in careers that are taught in that language, allows you to know other cultures, and do business with other latitudes, for example. In other words, speaking English opens the spectrum to Costa Rica in all areas that promote development, “said Jorge Sequeira, CINDE’s Managing Director.

The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Steven Núñez Rímola, indicated that: “this is the first action the Ministry of Labor and Social Security executes within the framework of the recently signed Alliance for Bilingualism, in which our goal is to train 15,000 people in the English proficiency by 2022. These first thousand people are an important step in achieving this goal. I also emphasize the importance of 800 people benefiting from locations outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, because in those areas there is a significant shortage of people with English proficiency; this will undoubtedly improve their capabilities for employability. “

“Our objective is to promote and strengthen public-private cooperation in strategic issues for the country’s development. That is why we focus our efforts on finding tools that we can provide to young people to improve employability through the articulation of public-private efforts at the national and local levels,” said Aitor Llodio, Executive Director of ALIARSE.

Puntarenas, San Carlos and San Ramón are the first communities to be part of the program that will kick start between September and December of the present year.
The course will be extended for one year and, every four months, teachers will rotate so that students can learn from different accents and experiences. Once the courses are completed, they will be certified under the TOEIC test.