Students return to school in February

The 2021 school year begins Feb. 8 with students attending hybrid classes, both virtually and in-person.

According to Guiselle Cruz, Minister of Education, the goal is to ensure that the school year will be carried out under rigorous sanitary protocols.

Among the main changes this year are: students must keep a social distance of 1.8 meters, everybody should constantly wash their hands, mandatory use of a mask, among other health measures.

Students are expected to alternate and attend in-person classes three days a week. The other two days will be virtual classes.
 
Most schools will receive only four hours of in-person lecture. In the case of technical high-schools, which develop more specialized activities, lessons at school will last up to six hours.

The principal, or director for those unfamiliar with the proper term in Costa Rica, of each school and high-school, will be responsible for coordinating schedules for each student. It is recommended that parents contact the school to obtain further information about in-person scheduling.

If someone is detected or suspected of being infected with covid-19, the school must close until a deep cleaning of all the facilities is completed, according to the authorities.

The re-entrance to in-person lessons will be gradual beginning the first two weeks of the school year by requiring older students to attend classes, while the rest will continue with virtual lessons.

According to the authorities, this new system of admission to classes will be continuously monitored and updated, depending on the development of the virus in the country. So, in case there is a high risk of contagion, students will go back to virtual lessons to avoid putting them at risk of getting infected.


The ministry has launched an information campaign on its social media on the sanitary guidelines that will be applied in schools and high-schools. The campaign can be found on the Ministry's YouTube channel.


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