Students protest increase in public university spending, saying it isn’t enough

(Photo courtesy of CRHoy.com)

August 27^th, 2015 (ICR News) The Costa Rican government’s contribution to public universities will increase ¢30 billion, or about US $57 million, from ¢410 billion to ¢440 billion in 2016, an increase of 7.38 percent, the Ministry of Education announced this week.

But students are not happy with the increased government contribution, saying that it isn’t enough.

A group of student demonstrators from the country’s public universities, led by the Federation of Students of the University of Costa Rica (FEUCR) protested outside Casa Presidencial Thursday morning, saying that the increase was a record low.

Before making their way to Casa Presidencial the students protested outside the offices of UCR rector Henning Jensen, demanding an explanation to his approval of what the students claim is an insufficient increase in the government’s contribution to public education.

The UCR workers union, Sin­di­ca­to de Tra­ba­ja­do­res, was also on hand, claiming that the university rector “behaves like a monarch” and violates their labor rights, according to a report by CRHoy.com.

Public universities cancelled classes and postponed exams that were scheduled for Thursday in order to not affect the grades of students participating in the protests.

The government provides public funds to the University of Costa Rica (UCR), National University (UNA), the State Distance Education University and the Costa Rican Institute of Technology through the State Higher Education Fund (FEES).

FEES most recent increase was 14 percent for the current year.