Comptroller speaks out - Corruption hits Panama’s schools
(Panama Star) PANAMA. Stolen checks, schools in disrepair, contracts not put out for tender, all part of a grab bag of alleged mismanagement by minister
Panama stands out as one of the countries in the Latin American region that spends most on education as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP), yet questions arise as to how the money is used considering the run down state of many of the educational facilities around the country.
Panama’s comptroller, Carlos Vallarino, and the current Education Minister Salvador Rodriguez entered a heated discussion on different media outlets this week as the comptroller accused the minister of mismanaging the Education Ministry (MEDUCA) funds.
His declarations arose from the state of the Guillermo Andreve school in Arraijan, which days from ending the first quarter, is completely unusable due to repairs that were started yet never finished for lack of payment.
MEDUCA claims the payments were not carried out because the contract was not endorsed by the comptroller’s office, while Vallarino said he had only recently received the contract and could not expedite the process, especially when the proposal shows overcharges.
Vallarino also claimed that similar irregularities have been going on for a while now, and that his office has presented 55 reports to the Prosecutor’s Office on fund mismanagement in MEDUCA’s Fund for Education Equity and Quality (FECE). Additionally, there are five reports on the glass fiber problem used in school constructions; on top of denouncing the theft of 180 MEDUCA checks destined for teachers in remote areas.
On a radio program this week, Vallarino accused Rodriguez of authorizing contracts to repair schools to one single company, denying Rodriguez’s claims that a public tender process was held for the contracts.
Vallarino said that his office monitors current market prices for construction materials, which he alleged were inflated up to 1,000 percent in the MEDUCA contract.
The comptroller went on to qualify the Education Ministry as a “focus of corruption,” saying that the different scandals surrounding the institution in the last five years, which include embezzlement of FECE funds by public employees, and hazardous glass fiber used in schools, are clear proof of that.
The Minister Rodríguez defended himself saying that the comptroller endorses the checks and that is why the Ministry has not been able to pay the construction workers to finish school repairs. He said MEDUCA problems dated before he took his job.
The comptroller also claimed that that Ministry has paid very risky checks in advance, mentioning the case of the former headmaster Virgilo Olmos who soon after opening a construction company wasgiven a contract. “There is a lot of negligence and administrative wrongdoing at MEDUCA,” he said.
He claimed he would endorse the contract only after construction material prices were adjusted.
Meanwhile, teachers and staff from the Guillermo Andreve school at Arraijan also criticized the Minister for the way he is handling MEDUCA, calling him “irresponsible and corrupt.”
Staff and parents have been protesting for the poor state of the school, which is so deplorable that firemen have prohibited the use of four classrooms altogether because of structural failures, especially in the kindergarten area.
Teachers and parents met with the vice-minister of education, Mirna de Crespo to discuss the situation, to no avail. They have decided to continue protesting.
According to Crespo, teachers are not letting MINSA help them. Meanwhile, teachers are calling for a national strike.
Designated Minister of Education Lucy Molinar has her work cut out for her.
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Original Source: http://www.laestrella.com.pa/mensual/2009/06/13/contenido/110612.asp
Date Retrieved: June 13, 2009.
