Minister of Education Sonia Marta Mora, delivered, through the Regional Directorate of Education of San José, a notice on September 15th, to inform that all schools must sing the anthem of Nicaragua on September 30th.
Mora declared that it is the closure of a civic month and the independence of Central America must be celebrated.
The minister was questioned via Twitter by a blogger known as “El Chamuko”, who has become known for his complaints via Twitter and his Facebook page El infierno el Costa Rica (Hell in Costa Rica).
When El Chamuko directly asked the minister if the missive was serious, she answered yes. Mora justified the decision by arguing that in the independece month, cultural diversity must be celebrated. According to Mora, schools are places where Costa Ricans celebrate symbols, but they are also areas in which authorities want foreign children to recognize their own national symbols:
Precisely because we know that a lot of our student population comes from Nicaragua, we want this population to approach their nationality and their celebrations.
In addition, schools must perform activities related to Nicaragua because in Costa Rica there are many Nicaraguans and they should approach their national symbols.
Although Mora indicates that it is the month of the Central American independence, there is not an order to sing the anthems from other countries in the region.