The Ministry of Education (Meduca) assured that most of the schools intervened during the summer are ready for the start of the school year, which will begin on March 2. According to Héctor Brancas, director of maintenance at Meduca, the work has focused on roof, plumbing, and electrical repairs, costing $1.8 million. These activities are carried out in a planned and sustained manner, prioritizing a total of 820 educational centers, of which 505 have been completed, 157 are in progress, and 158 are in the planning stage, benefiting 287,708 students nationwide. Meduca highlighted that maintenance work does not stop during Carnival festivities, during which more than 100 National Police cadets are carrying out interventions in educational centers in Panama Centro and Panama Norte. The agency confirmed that there is a group of schools that will not start classes in their premises because the conditioning work has not been completed. According to Meduca, these are the Elena Chávez de Pinate school, in Juan Díaz, and Gran Bretaña, in Pedregal.
