The Albany Gazette - Costa Rica Makes History as First Latin American Country to Launch English Learning as a National Initiative with Open English

MIAMI, FL / ACCESS Newswire / September 3, 2026 / In a landmark moment for education, employability, and social mobility in Latin America, Open English has been selected as the strategic partner for Costa Rica's national English-language learning initiative. Under the agreement, Open English will provide up to 2 million licenses over four years, expanding free access to English learning for Costa Rica's population aged 15 and older and helping turn language training into a national engine of opportunity.

The announcement marks a historic milestone not only for Costa Rica, but for the region: a country-level commitment to make English learning more accessible, scalable, and aligned with the real demands of today's economy. At a time when English proficiency continues to shape access to jobs, income growth, and global participation, Costa Rica is taking a transformative step to expand opportunity at scale.

The need is urgent. According to the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA), 81.3% of the country's priority training demand is in English, with 45,594 people seeking English instruction and 34,654 left without access under current capacity. At the same time, English remains one of the clearest gateways to employment and competitiveness in Costa Rica, where employers increasingly require language skills across sectors such as services, tourism, manufacturing, and technology.

Open English was selected for its scalable AI+Teacher model, which combines artificial intelligence with live instruction from real teachers to deliver a learning experience designed for engagement, consistency, and measurable progress. The model reflects a broader belief that technology should not simply digitize education - it should expand access, strengthen human connection, and help transform lives.

"English is one of the most powerful tools for expanding opportunity at scale. But access, by itself, is not enough. What changes lives is access plus engagement, access plus consistency, access plus a model that helps people keep going until progress becomes real. That is why we built FluentIA by Open English: to combine the scale of artificial intelligence with the human connection of live teachers, so a country like Costa Rica can turn English learning into a practical pathway to employability, competitiveness, and social mobility. This is the kind of milestone that shows what technology can do when it is used to open doors for an entire population, not just a privileged few .

The Costa Rica partnership also provides a compelling blueprint for other markets, including the United States, where English proficiency remains closely tied to economic mobility, workforce integration, and access to opportunity. While the U.S. is an English-dominant economy, it is also one of the world's largest multilingual markets - with millions of residents speaking a language other than English at home and a significant population still facing barriers linked to limited English proficiency.

That socioeconomic context makes the U.S. a natural market for the kind of scalable, government-partnered English-language model Open English is advancing. For immigrant communities, Hispanic workers, first-generation professionals, and adults seeking better employment pathways, English proficiency is not merely a communication skill; it is a bridge to higher-quality jobs, career advancement, educational access, entrepreneurship, and fuller participation in the economy.

This opportunity is especially acute in high-growth sectors where talent demand continues to expand - including healthcare, customer experience, logistics, hospitality, technology services, construction, financial services, and small business operations. In many of these industries, workers already bring experience, discipline, and technical ability; English proficiency is often the missing competency that limits promotion, customer-facing roles, or access to higher-paying positions.

The Costa Rica initiative offers a powerful reference point for the United States, where English proficiency remains closely tied to economic mobility, workforce participation, and access to opportunity. The model demonstrates how English learning can be positioned not as a standalone educational benefit, but as part of a broader workforce and economic-development strategy - one that can support community colleges, workforce boards, employers, nonprofit organizations, city governments, and state-level upskilling efforts at scale.

Just as importantly, Costa Rica reinforces Open English's core belief that technology should expand access without losing the human connection that drives motivation, confidence, and persistence. The AI+Teacher model is especially well suited to adult learners who need flexibility, practical conversation, and real interaction with teachers, while also benefiting from personalized AI-driven support beyond the classroom.

By applying the lessons from Costa Rica to the U.S. market, Open English is positioned to help address one of the country's most pressing workforce challenges: equipping more people with the language skills they need to participate fully in a changing economy. Costa Rica demonstrates the public-policy model. The United States represents the scale of the opportunity.

About Open Education

Open Education is an online learning platform that offers customized learning solutions for businesses interested in offering English and Spanish live instruction to their employees. The company is disrupting the brick-and-mortar language-learning market with a proprietary technology platform that offers unlimited, 24/7 access to live classes with native-speaking teachers. It is based on the more than 15 years of experience of its sister company, Open English, a leading English-learning platform in the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets has trained over 3,5 million students and partnered with more than 15,000 corporate clients across Latin America, the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The company is headquartered in Miami, FL with offices in Mexico City, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Bangalore and São Paulo. To learn more about Open Education, visit OpenEducation.com.

Contact:

Fernanda Cortés
[email protected]

SOURCE: Open Education

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(B.Smith--TAG)