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According
to the former minister
Mora, he will dedicate
himself to his own
business and will not
continue in any public
function. / Ministry of
Public Education courtesy
photo.
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Union celebrates
resignation of
minister of Public Education
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The now former minister of
Public Education, Edgar Mora,
announced his resignation to his
post Monday after the meeting of
the Governing Council in the
Presidential House in Zapote*.
"Mr. President, now with
goodwill and immense respect, I
give you back the position
designated as minister of
Education," said Mora "I leave
your government with the same
temperance with which I
arrived."
According to the former
minister, he will dedicate
himself to his own business and
will not continue in any public
function.
After the resignation of Mora,
members of the union of
employees of the Ministry of
Education celebrated in the
streets in front of the ministry
building.
According to union leaders, the
former minister did not develop
enough actions to solve the
infrastructure problems in
schools as well as open
negotiation options with the
employees of the ministry.
"We celebrate that the minister
has resigned. Now we have a
minister who wants to talk to
us," said Mélida Cedeño, leader
of the school teacher union,
known as APSE. "We ask the
president to name a minister who
knows about education and opens
the doors to dialogue."
Cedeño said that the resignation
of Mora was not the only
condition to stop the current
strike. Another target of the
union is the bill that would
regulate strikes. For that
reason, it is possible that the
strike continues
"There are other demands, such
as the rejection of anti-strike
and anti-democratic bills No.
21049 and 21097 of essential
services, as well as the dual
education, that will make
precarious the working
conditions of students. So we
called (referring to its
members) to stay tuned to carry
out new actions of fights," said
the union in its statement.
The unions are expected to
announce the final decision
whether or not to continue the
strike in the next few hours.
As A.M. Costa Rica reported
Monday, some students from the
Rodrigo Facio High School and
Dr. José María Castro Madriz
High School were protesting on
the outskirts of the
Presidential House in San
José, where they were
received by President Carlos
Alvarado.
The main issue was the problems
in the infrastructure of many
high school buildings. The
president said he is committed
to finding a solution to those
problems.
"We talked about the valid
concerns that they have about
the infrastructure and we are
committed to finding solutions,"
said Alvarado.
Some of the other themes of the
meeting were the new dual
education plan, the new tests
known as FARO, unisex bathrooms,
and the impact of the new
value-added tax on their
families.
"The meeting dealt with several
issues we had. We thank the
president because he clarified
all our doubts," said Kevin
Álvarez, a student at the
Rodrigo Facio High school.
At the end of the meeting, the
students said they recognized
that many of the demands arise
from false news circulating on
social networks and platforms
such as WhatsApp.
"We hope that the president
takes into account the opinions
we gave him so that the
community can understand that
not all the information that
comes out is correct," said
Leyla Urbina, also a student at
the Rodrigo Facio High School.
However, students requested the
resignation of Mora as a
condition to stop the protest of
the high school students.
Students of public schools in
the country marched in protest
of actions of the Ministry of
Education that, according to the
students, affect their
performance.
In response to the protests, the
ministry said in a statement
that the students have received
distorted and false information.
The minister also confirmed that
a request has been made to the
Supreme Electoral Tribunal to
open an investigation into the
persons who organized the
students' march based on false
information.
Among the main demands of the
students are:
- Cancel the final exams, known
as FARO test. These are tests
that senior students (fifth and
fourth level) must take. The
Ministry set up these tests to
assess the level of student
learning.
- The bill on dual education.
This bill is under study by
deputies in the Legislative
Assembly. It has the goal of
authorizing agreements with
private companies and public
organizations where students
would work without salary
for short periods and as
part of their field training and
graduation requirement. This
would be optional and not an
obligation of any student.
- The use of unisex bathrooms.
The ministry will install unisex
bathrooms for transgender
students to prevent them from
being attacked by others. This
new restroom does not mean that
bathrooms for men or women will
be eliminated, said the ministry
in its statement.
- The purchase of drones with
money from the ministry budget
that otherwise 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.
- The celebration of Gay Day in
all public schools. This
information was false and denied
by the ministry. "The Ministry
of Education clarifies that
there is no activity to
celebrate the diversity day, we
do not know where the rumor was
spread, especially in San
Carlos," said the ministry in
its statement.
According to the ministry's
report, only 2 percent of the
country's schools participated
in the protest.
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Have you heard
of student protests in your
community? We would like
to know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
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