Photo: Tim Boyle / Getty Images
By: EFE
Monday, December 23
Scandal over 600-question exam for children forces Costa Rica's Minister of Education to resign
The Minister of Education of Costa Rica, Giselle Cruz, resigned her position amid a controversy by an exam applied to elementary school children that contained around 600 questions , some of them related to socioeconomic information on families.
“The Minister of Public Education, Giselle Cruz Maduro, resigned from her post as of Monday 14 of November, which was accepted by the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado ”, indicated the Government.
Educators, unions and opposition political parties have criticized these tests since Friday, which they consider inappropriate for children of 11 and 12 year old and that could also be violating the rights of students , who took more than four hours to finish the test.
Questionnaire contained a section of questions on socio-economic aspects of families and the environment in which children live, such as the materials with which the homes of the families are built, if they have access to cell phones and other technological devices, electrical appliances and other goods.
Amid the controversy , the minister ordered on Saturday to deliver the questionnaires to parents who request it or destroy them, by recognizing that there was an error in the number of questions and the way in which many of them were formulated.
According to the Ministry of Education, these questions were intended to provide information to know how much the context influences grades in which the students live.
However, opposition deputies from various parties demanded the resignation of Minister Cruz and announced that they are preparing a motion censorship against it, since it is possible that the test has collected sensitive data protected by law.
President Alvarado appointed the current Deputy Minister of Public Education, Steven González Cortés, as the new minister. Academic Vice Minister Melania Brenes Monge also resigned from her post this Sunday.
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