Ministry of Education warns of threats of shootings every 4 days

QCOSTARICA — In 2024, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) reported threats of shootings in front of or near an educational center every four days.

This means that the corresponding protocol was activated on 43 occasions, which represents an increase of 13 incidents compared to 2023.

This was indicated by the MEP Student Rights Comptroller in response to a query from Diario Extra, which clarified that the detection or confiscation of weapons in schools is the specific responsibility of the Ministry of Public Security (MSP).

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If both data are added, the protocol was applied once every school week in schools and colleges.

New plan

On the first day of the 2025 school year, the MEP announced that they are preparing an inter-institutional plan in case of firearm attacks.

Leonardo Sánchez, the Minister of Education, confirmed that they will not update the protocol in force since 2022, but rather they will present “a policy, a strategy with Unicef, precisely to address with a comprehensive approach this type of situations that are occurring in educational centers.”

Along with the Public Ministry, the Mixed Institute of Social Aid (IMAS) and the National Children’s Welfare agency (PANI), they are working on the creation of measures that reduce the number of accidents.

“This issue is transversal to the entire educational system, to the entire learning process, and it has to be handled by teachers, administrators, directors and the entire educational community. We cannot delegate it to just one instance, that is why we develop it hand in hand with many institutions,” Sánchez added.

For her part, Enid Castro, head of the MEP Student Rights Comptroller’s Office, commented that they make timely efforts to prevent and address acts of violence, however “it also requires the commitment of everyone, especially parents, as well as legal guardians of students,” she said.

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This new plan “seeks to integrate all protocols, precisely because it is a cross-cutting issue,” she added.

Hilda González, regional director of Education of San José-Central, added that threats of shooting are common in this sector, even though the capital is the province with the highest number of homicides so far in 2025, with 23 deaths.

“Alajuelita is an area where day by day we are seeing the safety of our students affected, which is why we are already organizing forces with the municipality, the Catholic Church and PANI to generate a march for peace, asking the community for protection for our vulnerable educational population,” she said.

González explained that the areas where students are most at risk are Alajuelita, Sagrada Familia, Los Hatillos, Curridabat and Tirrases.

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“What do we have to do? An inter-institutional mechanism applying the protocol and, of course, student life, student rights, we are all going to be protectors and promoters of that peace that our children and adolescents require,” she emphasized.

Preventive measures

Vivian Chaves, president of the Association of Secondary Education Teachers (APSE), said that, although it is necessary to have plans in place in the face of the increase in violence in the country, the MEP should develop preventive actions.

“Beyond the protocol in the act, it has to be more focused on prevention, which we believe is not being taken into account as seriously and effectively as it should be, this due to the cuts that do not allow for a more comprehensive education,” she said.

To avoid reaching high numbers of shootings, according to Chaves, it is necessary to invest more in culture, sports, art, and other activities that “keep children away from acts of violence, criminal gangs and negative situations within their development as people.”

Shooting in Orotina

One of the most notorious cases of 2024 was the one that occurred at the Ricardo Castro Beer Technical Professional School, in Orotina.

The students during the morning of October 11 were caught in the middle of a crossfire, as a result of a confrontaton between a group of criminals and the Fuerza Publica (National Police) of Alajuela.