Panama goes back to school

Monday March 11th brought the start to the Panamanian school year. With the new year, came five goals for improving education in the country.

The goal announced along with the investment in investment allocated for education in 2019 will be managed by the National Commitment for Education (Copeme). 

The five goals: quality, equity, educator training, management, and investment in the sector.

Antonio Castillo, coordinator of the Copeme, said that the agency’s work is focused on ensuring that the system promotes effective access to quality education, as a fundamental right. Castillo, explained that in his opinion the greatest limitation for Panama is not a financial deficit or personnel resources; but rather it is the "lack of conceptual clarity and position to enforce and live education as a fundamental human right and public and social good".

Ministry of Education (Meduca) show that at least 9,255 students of the official sector will not start the school year today March 11, since the educational centers where they are studying are subject to maintenance work. This was an issue for many during the previous school year as well. 

During the last five years (2014-2019), the Government has allocated a total of $ 2,527,892,830 to the Ministry of Education (Meduca) for the investment line. This year is where the most resources are being allocated for investment. The amount is $ 549,096,245. Meanwhile, the year when less resources were granted for investments was 2015, with $ 446,354,300, according to data from the Official Gazette.