The Tico Times Online Daily Page

School Year Gets Off to a
Muddy Start in Caribbean
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net

Logistical problems appear to have created a chaotic first day of school for some of the country's students yesterday, although President Abel Pacheco expressed pride about the record-breaking number of students, the new schools that opened, and students' and teachers' reaction to adversity.

While delayed payments and school personnel assignments by the Ministry of Public Education formed part of the problem, the main cause of distress was water damage and mud-filled classrooms on the Caribbean slope as a result of recent floods. Torrential rains caused disastrous water damage President Pacheco called “the worst in 100 years” (TT, Jan. 21).

While groups ranging from ministry officials, teachers' unions and tourism businesses mobilized during the weeks following the Jan. 8-9 disaster to help raise funds for school supplies and repairs in the region, the weekend saw eager students working to remove mud from their classrooms so their schools could start on time yesterday.

The daily La Nación reported that besides the obvious problems posed by mud-covered schools, many educational centers in the areas surrounding the Caribbean-slope town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí and the port city of Limón were struggling with lack of electricity and potable water over the weekend.

On Friday, the National Association of Educators (ANDE) urged the ministry to postpone the start of school in the Caribbean.

“The (necessary) conditions for starting the school year do not exist,” association president José Antonio Barquero said in a statement. “The schools are covered with mud, there are no desks or chairs in good shape, the teaching materials were lost and access is difficult in some areas.”

Association leaders also feared students would not be able to reach their schools because of poor road conditions, according to the statement.

Pacheco, however, speaking at the Colegio Técnico Profesional in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, praised the schools' students and staff for their attendance, despite the situation.

“The teachers, students and parents of all the schools of the Atlantic region and of (Central Pacific towns) that were gravely affected by the flooding or by the (Nov. 20, 2004) earthquake in the Central Pacific... have put their soul, life and heart into starting classes today. This has been heroic,” Pacheco said.

He also promised that “we are not going to leave you alone... the educational centers of the Atlantic slope, Quepos and Parrita will receive attention as our first priority.”

Yesterday, Public Education Minister Manuel Antonio Bolaños could not be reached for comment, nor were updates on school conditions available at press time because Bolaños and other officials were returning from the Caribbean slope, according to ministry spokesman Mauricio Azofeifa.

According to ANDE spokeswoman Karina Murillo, there were plenty of glitches.

“Many children were relocated to other classrooms because the schools were full of mud,” she told The Tico Times.

She said additional problems were caused not by floods, but by poor ministry planning. Because of delays in the sending of telegrams used to notify teachers and principals of their placements for the school year, many educators, though ready to work, had simply not been told where to report for work, Murillo said.

“Kids go to school and there are no teachers, or teachers go to school and they have no boss,” she said. “This happens every year. It is an old, recurring problem.”

Last year, while floods did not threaten the start of school, a massive desk shortage did (TT, Feb. 13, 2004). Despite the fact that the ministry distributed 37,229 desks in 2004, according to ministry literature, a lack of desks continues to plague schools because of the ever-increasing student population. While the ministry plans to distribute 53,000 desks over the course of this year, only 5% of those were delivered for the opening of school, according to La Nación.