Elementary instruction of both sexes is compulsory and at the expense of the Government. The following data are obtained from the Minister of Public Instruction, Licentiate Ricardo Pacheco. In 1896 Costa Rica had 327 primary schools with 21,913 enrolled pupils, or 53 per cent. of all the children of school age, as can be seen in the following table: (Part 1 of 2) -----------+-----------------+-----------------------+ | NUMBER OF | NUMBER OF PUPILS. | | OFFICIAL SCHOOLS| | +----+----+---+---+-------+-------+-------+ | | G | M | T | | G | T | | B | i | i | o | B | i | o | | o | r | x | t | o | r | t | | y | l | e | a | y | l | a | | s | s | d | l | s | s | l | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | -----------+----+----+---+---+-------+-------+-------+ San José | 43| 43| 6| 92| 3,766| 3,766| 7,118| Alajuela | 46| 45| 16|107| 3,028| 2,862| 5,890| Cartago | 25| 24| 1| 50| 1,817| 1,475| 3,292| Heredia | 20| 20| 7| 47| 2,132| 1,728| 3,880| Guanacaste | 11| 9| 1| 21| 649| 513| 1,162| Puntarenas | 5| 4| --| 9| 297| 199| 496| Limon | --| --| 1| 1| 30| 45| 75| -----------+----+----+---+---+-------+-------+-------+ | 150| 145| 32|327| 11,719| 10,194| 21,913| -----------+----+----+---+---+-------+-------+-------+ (Part 2 of 2) -----------+------------------------------------- | NUMBER OF PUPILS. | +-------+--------+---------+---------- | | | | | | | | For each | Per | Per | Per 100 | 100 |school.|teacher.| Inhab- | children | | | itants. | of school | | | | age. -----------+-------+--------+---------+---------- San José | 78.45 | 28.81 | 9.27 | 54.57 Alajuela | 55.04 | 32.36 | 10.29 | 60.57 Cartago | 65.84 | 24.75 | 8.66 | 51.07 Heredia | 82.56 | 26.76 | 12.27 | 72.19 Guanacaste | 55.33 | 21.92 | 5.79 | 34.09 Puntarenas | 55.11 | 22.59 | 4.07 | 23.98 Limon | 75.00 | 37.50 | 1.00 | 58.96 -----------+-------+--------+---------+---------- | 67.01 | 27.94 | 9.01 | 53. -----------+-------+--------+---------+---------- This great number shows a marked predisposition of the people in favor of education. It is also a fact that Costa Rica holds the first place of all Latin American nations in regard to public instruction.