2009 School Year Begins
February 16
February 16 is an important day in the Costa Rican calendar,
especially for children and their parents, that that is the day that
the 2009 school year begins.
It is also an important day for the ministerio de Educación Pública
(MEP) and the ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), who
will have the responsibility to ensure that school children will
have a desk and teacher and that the school buses they will be
riding are conforming to all the safety standards.
For the Transportes ministry they will be working during the next
fifteen days to ensure that the buses operating on the 1.040 routes
around the country have permits and meet the regulations.
All the vehicles will have to have the Riteve inspection certificate
before they can apply to the Consejo de Transporte Público for a
permit. All permits are issued to private operators.
This year some 77.000 students will receive free transportation to
and from school on 215 routes. The decision to offer the free
service is set by each school who will determine which students need
the transportation service. The schools in those cases will receive
funding by the Education ministry to contract and pay the private
school bus operators.
Anabell Castillo, coordinadora de los Programas de Equidad del MEP,
said that this year some ¢14 billion colones will be invested in
school transportation
However, back to school this year will not be an easy one, not only
for students, but also for the teachers, many of whom are still
upset over their salary increase which the MEP has yet to pay out.
Beatriz Ferreto, head of the teacher's union, the Asociación de
Profesores de Segunda Enseñanza, said this is a repeat of last year,
when promises are made that all will be ready by the start of the
school year and then last minute we are told we will be paid in
March.
Ferreto blames the problems on MEP minister, Leonardo Garnier, who,
like last year, promised that the salary problems would be solved
ahead of the start of the school year.
The problem is not only for salaries but also job placement. The MEP,
as usual, waits to the last minute to name all the teachers, which
are estimated at some 20.000 teachers.
Providing school transportation has some basic requirements that
need to be met by each operator and vehicle:
- the vehicle (bus or minivan) must have the latest Riteve
inspection certificate
- each vehicle must have a seatbelt for each passenger
- vehicles cannot be older than 20 years
- each vehicle must be insured by the INS and for the number of
students it is authorized to transport
- the permit sets out the maximum number of seated students that can
be carried. No standing is allowed.
- it is up to the parents to verify that the vehicle carrying their
children meets the requirments and report in the case it does not
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