By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Minister of Public Education, Guiselle Cruz called on the members of the two unions of that ministry, known as Ande, Apse, and Anep, not to go on strike today.

The leaders of both unions asked their members to make a protest march today in the Central Park of San Jose, starting at 9 a.m. and maintain the strike for the rest of the day.

According to union leaders, they are protesting against the bill No. 21.097, which is being analyzed in the Legislative Assembly and which seeks to establish a list of essential public services, including public education, in which employees' right to strike may be limited or restricted.

According to the Ministry, as a result of union strikes, during 2018 and this year, students of public schools and high-schools have lost 100 days of lessons.

"More strikes in this last semester will cause students to lose two consecutive annual study programs, the one of 2018, which we have not yet recovered, and this year," said Minister Cruz.

According to the ministry, union strikes are generating an inequality among students in public versus private schools, because the students of private schools have not lost lessons and not suffered from the stress caused by the teacher's strike.

The most recent strike of Ministry of Public Education Union was in July, as A.M. Costa Rica reported.


On July 23rd, the Ombudsman's Office announced the protesting unions have made a no-strike commitment in exchange for an agenda of meetings with the government.

"The process of dialogue between the union and the government started on Thursday, Aug. 1,"  said the Ombudsman in its report. The office is serving as a mediator between the union leaders and the government.

Meanwhile, the union representatives also committed to not to carry out any pressure measures or strikes for 30 days to ensure the meetings are peaceful.

The public school students and unions have been marching to protest proposed laws since July 1.

Students supported by members of public employee unions marched in all provinces to protest several bills that are under consideration by deputies at the Legislative Assembly.

Mélida Cedeño Castro, president of the public school teachers' union known as APSE, said  the  union's main request is the cancellation of the following bills:

- No. 20.786, dual education, that will allow students of technical schools to complete an internship in private companies. Students are said to consider the conditions of internships unfair because they would not receive salary, insurance, and others work benefits.

- No. 21.097, which seeks to establish a list of essential public services, including public education, in which employees' right to strike may be limited or restricted.

The protesters also want to cancel the final exams, known as FARO test. These are tests that senior students at the fifth and fourth level must take. The Public Education Ministry set up these tests to assess the level of student learning.

Also, students are against unisex bathrooms for transgender students to prevent them from being attacked by others. According to the Ministry of Public Education, these new restroom does not mean that bathroom for men or women will be eliminated, said the ministry in its statement.

The students also are critical of the purchase of drones with money from the ministry budget that could be used to repair schools with structural problems. The ministry currently has a process to invest about $599,529 to buy 22 drones and other technological tools to use in agricultural areas.

According to a report of the ministry, only 86 of the 1,003 high schools in the country were closed by the strike in July.

Of those 86 closed schools, 41 managed to reopen during the day and give lessons to the students who were not supporting the strike.

In addition, the ministry enabled the telephone line 400-1661 to answer questions from students and parents about the issues that bother students.


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Are you for or against the bill that would regulate strikes?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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