The Ministry of Public Education (MEP) implemented a series of strategies to disseminate the cultural, artistic and educational contributions provided by the Afro-Costa Rican population in the country.
For this, the MEP developed didactic support material aiming to sensitize and strengthen students’ behavior towards tolerance and acceptance of individual differences.
According to Alicia Vargas, Deputy Minister of Public Education, the aim is to promote knowledge, appropriation and use of the intercultural approach between teaching and administrative staff. They also want the student population to understand the importance of cultural diversity.
Another line of work proposed by the MEP is a protocol proposal for the prevention, care and management of racial discrimination in schools.
The MEP has also incorporated texts that deal with Afro culture in the official list of suggested readings of authors like Shirley Campbell, Eulalia Bernard, Quince Duncan and Delia McDonald.
As for the artistic contribution, they want to incorporate the African music classes in the musical styles such as jazz, reggae, rock, calypso, gospell, blues and classical music.