IMAS Announces Aid To Keep Teenagers in School
The beginning of the 2007 school year is around the corner and the government has said it will provide economic aid to some 65.000 families so that their children will not abandon school.

Many teenage children leave school, preferring to enter the informal labour force because the family cannot afford to send them to school, as well as help out the family economically.

The Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social (IMAS) has signed an agreement with the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) that will help some 140.000 teenagers to continue in high school and on to college.

A group of 350 UCR students will be helping out the thousands of families whose children had to abandon school. The UCR students will be using computers to verify data on each family and offer them financial help as long as they commit to keeping their children in school.

The government has set aside some ¢40 billion colones (us$77.5 million dollars) each year for this program.

The hope is that by July of this year 65.000 families will benefit and another 140.000 by 2008.