The Constitutional Champer of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) struck down a longstanding policy in public schools that required students to attend religious classes taught by Roman Catholic officials.

The father of a female student at a high school in Cartago, east of San José, filed a request for an injunction against the practice in April, according to a court press release. School officials had threatened to expel his daughter if she refused to attend the classes.

The ruling ordered the Education Ministry to make the necessary policy changes to end the practice.