QCOSTARICA – “Al cole en bici” (to school on a bike) is the name of a project that provides students with a bicycle as an alternative, safe, environmentally friendly, easy-to-use means of transport with the aim of helping them to stay in school.
The project is possible thanks to an agreement between the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and the Tejedores de Sueños Foundation, which will provide 250 high school students from rural communities of the country with bicycles as a loan.
The first delivery was made Wednesday at the Professional Technical College de Cóbano to 36 students.
The bicycles are donated by citizens of Belgium and the foundation’s intention of lending a total of a thousand bicycles to students from schools in rural areas; The objective is to contribute to their permanence in school and to give them an incentive to complete their studies.
During this year deliveries will be made in various stages. The prioritization of the schools was carried out considering, in the first instance, the exclusion percentages, as well as the risk factors associated with permanence such as topography and access to public transport, among others.
In the case of the benefited students, the selection was made in coordination between the UPRE and the teams for the permanence of the educational centers, and it was considered students of all educational levels, who live more than two kilometers from the institution and that they have a safe route for their displacement, as well as that they will present a special situation for their student stay.
The list of benefited educational centers is as follows:
- Liceo Rural Cerros (of the Aguirre Regional Directorate)
- Liceo Miguel Araya Venegas (from Cañas)
- La Casona Rural High School (from Coto)
- Academic Lyceum of Térraba (of Grande de Térraba)
- Boruca High School (Grande de Térraba)
- Liceo Santa Marta (from Grande de Térraba)
- Cobano CTP (from Peninsular)
- Chira High School (from Puntarenas)
- Rural Lyceum Salvador Durán Ocampo (from Sarapiquí)
- Liceo Rural La Conquista (Sarapiquí)
- Liceo Las Delicias (North North)
