When a final grade is changed by administrative decision, the conversation stops being only about the student and becomes about the instrument that measures. That explains much of the debate following the five-point adjustment that the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) applied to the national exams of technical high schools.
What changed in the assessment
According to La Nación, the national summative exams have been administered since 2023 and, until 2025, they were evaluated as a single set: the grades of each subject, called components, were added together and produced an average that was the final grade. For 2026, the system changed. Each subject now has an independent exam, with more questions and, according to the MEP, broader coverage of what has been learned.
This change in format is the starting point of the discussion. When an assessment is redesigned, its results are no longer directly comparable with those of previous years, even though they have the same name. Therefore, before judging whether an adjustment is fair, it is worth understanding what was meant to be corrected.
The ministry’s justification
The Minister of Education, Leonardo Sánchez Hernández, defended the measure in a video broadcast by La Nación. He stated that the exams are “technically sound and reliable” and that the adjustment was made after analyzing the results comprehensively, evaluating scenarios and considering “technical, educational and equity criteria.” He also maintained that the original results are preserved.
Sánchez went beyond the technical aspect. He said that “behind every result there is also a story” and mentioned the strikes of 2018 and 2019, as well as a pandemic lasting more than two years with distance education. These are contextual facts that the minister links to the performance of this generation. The connection between those factors and a specific grade adjustment is, however, an interpretation by the ministry that the sources do not support with additional data.
What experts say and what is missing
Isabel Román, director of the Programa Estado de la Nación, cited by La Nación, used PISA results to argue that the country is stagnant. According to the minister, PISA showed that Costa Rica stopped the decline in Reading and Mathematics and improved in Science, but without reaching the levels of 2009. Román agreed that today’s results do not surpass those of 2009 and pointed out that there were no significant changes in Mathematics and Reading comprehension in 2025.
There is an important nuance: in the available sources, Román’s criticism refers to the level of learning, not to the five-point adjustment. The specific doubt about the measure appears in the headline of Teletica, which refers to “experts” who question it, but the text we consulted does not detail which concrete arguments were raised about the adjustment. In addition, two directors of educational centers confirmed the measure and said they did not know its reason, according to La Nación.
What it means for students and families
The practical point is that the adjustment affects the grades of students at technical high schools. According to the minister, students can request a review of their results. If this option interests you, the most sensible step is to consult the MEP directly about the deadline and procedure, since the sources do not detail them.
Beyond each individual case, the episode leaves a lesson: when the way of assessing changes, communicating the rules and the adjustments matters as much as the exam itself.
The essentials
- The MEP applied a five-point adjustment to the national exams of technical high schools in 2026, a year in which the format changed to independent exams per subject.
News sources
- Teletica: Expertos cuestionan ajuste de cinco puntos que aplicó MEP a pruebas estandarizadas
- La Nación Costa Rica: MEP justifica ajuste de 5 puntos en pruebas nacionales de colegios técnicos con que son ‘más completas’: ‘Esta generación vivió las huelgas y la pandemia’
- CR Hoy: MEP regaló 5 puntos en pruebas nacionales a estudiantes de colegios técnicos