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Good practice Imported

MEP–Intel AI for Youth (AI4Y) — Costa Rica's National AI Technical Specialization in Public Colegios Técnicos

Costa Rica · Santa Ana · See the Costa Rica profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 31% 60/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Education and Intel launched a three-year AI technical specialization in public Colegios Técnicos, starting with 4 schools in 2023 and expanding to 14 by 2024, using Intel's free AI4Y curriculum and cascade teacher training.

4
Pilot schools at launch (2023)
14
Schools by 2024 (2024)
3 years
Programme duration

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) de Costa Rica & Intel Costa Rica
Period
2023–2024 (phase 1), ongoing
Keywords
public education, ICT industry, TVET, public-private partnership

Context

Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Education (MEP) signed a cooperation agreement with Intel Costa Rica to create the country's first formal upper-secondary specialization in Artificial Intelligence, delivered through the public Colegios Tecnicos Profesionales (CTP) network.

Objectives

Give students a three-year technical pathway culminating in a 'tecnico medio' qualification in Artificial Intelligence, and build in-country teacher capacity via cascade training.

Activities

The specialization launched in 2023 at four pilot schools - Santa Ana, Puriscal, Coronado and Calle Blancos - and was scheduled to expand to ten additional CTPs by 2024, bringing the total to fourteen. Intel provided its 'AI for Youth' (AI4Y) curriculum, teaching materials and initial teacher training at no cost to the ministry. Lead teachers at each pilot school were trained first and were then responsible for cascading the training to colleagues. Students entering in 2023 also received English-language scholarships.

Results

Costa Rican outlets reported the country as the first in Latin America to formalize AI as a named technical specialization, rather than an elective module.

Conclusions

As of the program's public announcements, no independent evaluation of student learning outcomes or graduate employment had been published; the evidence available covers curriculum design, school rollout and teacher-training structure rather than measured impact.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Intel provided the AI4Y curriculum, materials and initial teacher training at no cost to the ministry
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Launched 2023 at 4 pilot schools; expansion to 14 schools by 2024; 3-year student pathway
Staffing & skills
Ministerio de Educacion Publica (MEP) de Costa Rica - public system operator, Intel Costa Rica - curriculum, materials and initial teacher training (free of charge), Lead teachers at each pilot CTP - cascade trainers

Conditions for success

  • Free vendor-provided curriculum and initial teacher training (no cost to the ministry)
  • A cascade (train-the-trainer) model to build in-country pedagogical capacity
  • English-language scholarships paired with enrollment

Common failure modes

  • No independent evaluation of student learning outcomes or graduate employment has been published

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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