Panama's Education Minister Calls for National Consensus on Education Reform

The Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar, stated that it is extremely important to call for a broad national consensus on the educational issue, but with the commitment to set a deadline. She emphasized the need to draw the best from the studies conducted over the years, along with new, innovative, and updated contributions, to create a law that strengthens the principles of gratuity, mandatory education, and other fundamentals. The Minister of Education assured that the new organic law on education will be discussed with all involved sectors, although many may not agree with the modifications presented. Fernando Ábrego, secretary of Asoprof, maintains that the issue requires the collaboration of all involved sectors, but this does not mean the dialogue should be prolonged because the solutions already exist. It is only necessary to sit down to unify and materialize them, which has always been lacking. The Association of Teachers of the Republic of Panama (Asoprof) confirmed its participation in the working tables of the Ministry of Education (Meduca) and the Education, Culture and Sports Commission of the National Assembly, which seek to reform the educational system; however, it requested the authorities to define a 'deadline' so that the discussion does not extend longer than necessary to the detriment of the educational community. He mentioned that from the teaching sphere, they consider it necessary for the new regulation to contemplate changes in study plans, labor productivity, teacher training, learning evaluation models, and budgetary management and investment. In parallel, deputies will carry out their consultation tables both in the capital city and in the 16 educational regions that exist in the country. Meduca will hold 18 meetings with different actors to start next month with the presentation of proposals and the unification of the document they will present to the Legislative Branch. The union leader indicated that of the 7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) assigned to the education sector, Meduca only accounts for 5.5%, which is divided among all the schools in the country, whose needs are quite extensive, reducing its scope; therefore, the challenge lies in guaranteeing a planned, equitable, and results-oriented distribution. The president of the commission, Jorge Bloise, made it clear that the commission's objective is to listen to the population before the Executive's document reaches the Assembly to expedite its analysis and can be elevated to the plenary before the end of the year.