61. As far as education is concerned,
in the Republic of Costa Rica, under article 78 of the
Political Constitution, "public education is compulsory and, like pre-school and specialized
education, is free and paid for by the
nation".
Minimum age of employment
168. In addition, as part of the process of
adaptation of the legal system to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and International Labour Organization Convention No. 138, the Executive vetoed the
legislation establishing a minimum age of 12 years for authorization
of the employment of children on the
grounds that that legislation was not in line with commitments entered
into at international level. The Children's and Adolescents' Code contains an
entire chapter on the special regime of protection for
juvenile workers and sets the minimum age for admission to employment at 15 years.
