Saying good bye is not easy. I have never been through such a harsh situation and I don’t even want to know what it feels like. But I have been to funerals and I have seen the mourning, sorrow and pain people go through. I have also been in deathbeds and I have seen sorrow and tears as well. Sometimes people prefer death over suffering. No way am I trying to convince you that death is better than suffering; my point is that both are terrible.
In this violent world we live, not only people die but also animals and things. Back on time, not too long ago, Hollywood symbolically buried the VHS and last year they did the same with the DVD. There were many reasons such as: people didn’t like them anymore, they were not useful, they didn’t fulfill our necessities, and new brand appliances emerged. Hollywood didn’t prettify them but buried them and created a whole new idea.
Costa Rican educational system has already accomplished the purpose it was created for. It has been in a comma for so long. It is living on artificial live. If we just unplug it from the life-giver-machine, it will pass away. It is true that we have the highest rate of literacy; it doesn’t mean, however, that the curriculum we have is appropriate. It is inadaptable to the different kinds of populations we have in Costa Rica.
While hearing a German engineer the other day, giving a seminar entitled “From the idea to the project”, I could realize the problem we have been facing for so many years. Going from an idea to a final product requires an elaborate process which, at the same time, entails constant monitoring. When the product does not satisfy the audience’s necessities, a total check out is needed; not to the final output, but to the whole process to find out the exact place where the weakspot is located.
Being that said and once detected the problem, sometimes a complete restructuration is a must. A try to keep alive something that was not well-elaborated since the very beginning, is a waste of time. Are we resisting the imminent death of something that has been proved not to produce the desired output? Time has already said it.
I don’t like cemeteries and probably nobody does. When you go there you see people sad and reflecting sometimes. You can also see a lot of white tombs with different inscriptions. I have a crazy dream, however: Going to the cemetery one day and find a big tomb with an inscription entitled “Costa Rican Educational System Rests in Peace”.
