The Ministry of Education in Costa Rica fired 19 employees for going on trips during the strike.

These employees were fired without employer responsibility, which means they are not entitled to receive severance since they incurred a serious offense.

According to the Direction of Human Resources of the Ministry of Education, there are a total of 232 employees being investigated for this same offense, since there is evidence they left the country while they were supposedly taking part of the strike protesting the fiscal plan.

The first 6 people were let go on November 20, another 2 on December 4 and the last few weeks, Minister Edgar Mora, signed the letters firing another 11 employees.

¨We have insisted that a right cannot be abused, educators, members of the administration or maintenance teams, that went on a trip taking advantage of the strike movement incurred a serious offense and that is something the education system cannot allow¨, stated Mora.

Among the cases investigated there are 15 school principals, 7 of them who left the country between three to five days, 4 were out of between eight and nine days and the other four were absent between 18 and 26 days.

This week the Ministry of Education also ordered administrative personnel to return to their jobs on January 4, a month earlier than they are used to.