Panama's Education Budget: Falling Investments and Growing Inequality

While millions are being transferred to other ministries, the deterioration of schools, classrooms, laboratories, and unequipped libraries persists. This situation deepens social inequalities and limits the opportunities for thousands of young people who see education as the main way to overcome poverty. The increase of the educational budget to 7% of GDP was a conquest of the social movement, materialized through law 362 of 2022, so the lack of budget execution not only constitutes a lack of respect for the Panamanian people, but also reveals serious deficiencies in institutional planning; limited technical capacity to execute projects; lack of political will and leadership to prioritize education; and inexperience in public contracting processes. Faced with this situation, the constituent organizations of OIR demand from MEDUCA: • To present an urgent plan for the execution of the educational investment budget; • To transparentize the real state of school infrastructure projects; • To accelerate contracting and execution processes; • To establish monitoring and accountability mechanisms before the country. We reiterate that education is a right and a national priority, and we will be vigilant so that the resources conquered by the struggle of the people are fully executed for the benefit of the schools, teachers, and students of the entire country. Bayano digital reproduces the text of the document to generate a debate about the future of Education in this country. The execution of the investment budget of the Ministry of Education shows a strong fall, seriously compromising the educational development at the national level. This decline begins in 2023 with an execution of educational investments of 79%, which drops to 48% in 2024 and finally to 17.2% in 2025. Figures of investments in the educational sector. The Coordinator of Independent Trade Union Organizations in Resistance (OIR) has just issued a statement with strong questions about the education deficit in Panama. 1,869 million destined to improve infrastructure and educational resources. Not executing those resources represents a serious setback regarding the right to a dignified and quality education, affecting especially students from working-class and low-resource families. As a result, between 2018 and 2025, approximately B/...