The Education Ministry finally appeased teachers in Costa Rica.

Almost four weeks after the strike began, many teachers return to their classrooms today. An agreement between MEP (the Ministry of Education) and APSE ( the Association of Secondary Education Teachers) was reached at 3am on Thursday April 24, after weeks of striking.

After 11 hours of fierce deliberation, APSE accepted the MEP’s proposal, presented to them on behalf of the Ministry by Leonardo Garnier, Minister of Education. Later in the day, around 4pm, APSE officially announced that their strike was over. To recap, APSE went on strike to protest the non-payment of their teachers for extra classes they had given - sometimes as many as 16 per week. MEP had long stated that they would pay the teachers their due wages, but only if the proper paperwork was submitted.

In addition to not getting paid what they were owed, APSE also went on strike because they had not been given an annual raise, though several other government sectors had. As detailed in the deal reached between the two organizations, the teachers will be given a raise, retroactive to July 1, that will be paid out in the first semester of 2009. This raise will come out as an annual expenditure of ¢50,000,000,000, about $101,818,778. In addition, Garnier promises to open a special window to attend to teachers who work overtime without getting paid, and MEP hopes to have this problem resolved within a month’s time.

Though there are still a few kinks to be worked out, and differences to be cleared up regarding what the agreement says and what it means, the striking teachers have gone back to work, and have promised to make up for missed classes. Most teachers began work again today, and those in those in very rural locations plan to begin again on Monday.

Beatriz Ferreto, president of APSE, says that this agreement is the beginning of making up for missed time, but that her teachers will not be putting in extracurricular hours. In other words, children will be taught what they missed, but APSE does not want its teachers to work overtime. Teachers will be paid for the time that they spent on strike.

In response to APSE’s statement, Leonardo Garnier believes that MEP and APSE will have to participate in further discussions. He states that the teachers’ rights are important, and that they can’t expect for all hours to be made up, but that children have the right to an education. The spirit of the deal was not just the benefit of the teachers, but to start teaching their students again, and it’s important to not forget this goal.

After almost four weeks of deliberation, MEP and APSE have finally reached an agreement that they can both be happy with. Luckily for the affected students, their right to an education will also be protected, their missed classes will be made up. Though it could have taken a turn for the worse, this is a solution that should make everyone happy.

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Filed under: Travel on April 25th, 2008