La política educativa y su compromiso con la equidad social y el desarrollo sostenible

The article centers its analysis in two areas of the current educational policies in Costa Rica: the statements that the document contains about its commitment with the social equity and the sustainable development, subject that has a strong relationship with rural education, its conceptualization, its planning, and its development. At the same time, it traces a brief description of the development of the right to education in the nation’s politics, showing advances of the country’s vulnerable groups, with the promulgation of new laws that these sectors have been reaching through fights and organized demands.

Distance Education in the Professionalization of People with Disability and Prison Inmates

This paper illustrates the impact of the Universidad Estatal a Distancia  (UNED, by its Spanish acronym) in supporting and professionalizing the vulnerable groups of the Costa Rican society, including prison inmates, persons with physical disability, individuals from remote areas, among others.  This study attempts to answer this type of questions: What kind of support has been provided to these sectors?  What are the challenges faced by distance education universities to succeed?  How does UNED have solved these challenges?  What is the impact of the Universidad Estatal a Distancia on the Costa Rican society for the professionalization of its population?  Documentation and statistics have been used in the study; in addition, two people who graduated from UNED were selected to illustrate the type of cases the University serves.(1) Translator’s note: It refers to the “Costa Rican Distance Education State University”.