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An unusual request from the Minister of Environmental Protection amid tight budgets

Broadcast United News Desk
An unusual request from the Minister of Environmental Protection amid tight budgets

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One of the most unusual news this week was a request from the Minister of Education. Anna Katharina Muellerthey gave him Deadline: May 26, 2025 Propose the educational policy requested by the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR).

Since December last year, the CGR has ordered the minister to prepare planning policies for the pre-school, primary and secondary cycles under her leadership. The plans must clearly define the work guidelines, goals and evaluation indicators. Mueller had eight months to comply (the deadline was August 30), but now Request for another nine months.

By May 26, 2025, More than three years of government have passedMeanwhile, this government has been in power for two years and four months, and the country still doesn’t know “Educational route”, which Mueller announced in February 2023 as his invention.

We must remember what the Minister said a year ago, in September 2023: “The educational route does exist; I just invented this waythere has never been an education route, now Even the Auditor General of the Republic wanted to tell me what this document looked like I have to deliver what everyone is waiting for. I’m more than a quarter of the way there.”

The minister’s request for an extension was learned the same week the government presented the 2025 national budget, which Assigned to the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) he Recent minimum budgetas a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).

The executive branch budget for the Ministry of Environmental Protection is 4.9% of GDP, a figure that is noteworthy if we consider that four years ago, in 2020, this proportion had reached 7.3%.

For Finance Minister Nogi Acosta, it is a mistake to include in the political constitution a requirement for the country to spend 8% of its GDP on education. He believes that Tax revenues are growing at a different rate than GDP Because this includes the duty-free zone.

Acosta believes that in terms of taxation, The government only collects an amount equivalent to 15% of GDPwhich makes it impossible to allocate 8% to education.

At the same time, under the same budgetary constraints, the government established a Higher Education Special Fund (FEES) increased by 0%after failing to reach an agreement with the university president.

The Legislative Council has Defining constitutional responsibility for fees In these disputed cases, under Section 85 of the Magna Carta, but the minister said he would not guarantee additional funding if the delegates increased the funds in case he considered them unreasonable.

Nogi Acosta announced that in this case, Just refuse to comply at the disposal of legislators, because the budget is an authorization to spend, not an obligation.

This argument is debatable because fees are a constitutional transfer. Moreover, recently, the Fourth Chamber ordered the Minister Transfer all legally available transfers to the Social Development and Family Allowances Fund (Fodesaf)because of violations.

That same week, the Minister of Education made a surprising final motion during discussions on the fifth special budget for 2024, which A further £1.9bn is being asked to pay for replacement officials Due to a The number of people with disabilities has increased dramaticallyThe motion expects the money to come primarily from projects that pay for Teachers’ pension contributions,Condition The National Teachers Pension Board (Jupema) is concerned.

President Rodrigo Chavez himself said on Saturday, August 31, The government does not collect enough taxes Pay the fees and ask multiple departments to apply for more resources, such as universities and the Organization for Judicial Inquiry (OIJ).

The presentation of the budget will trigger a period of intense debate in Congress. By the way, the Ministry of Finance confirmed that due to the fiscal situation, the public wage freeze will not be unfrozen before 2028.

Legislative session of April 8, 2024. Education Minister Anna Katharina Müller is questioned by representatives of the Legislative Assembly's Heredia Commission regarding the sale of the Arnoldo Herrera Theater at the Castellana Conservatory. Photo: John Duran
Anna Katharina Mueller, Minister of Education. Photo: John Duran

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