The Ministry of Education confirmed a few days ago Panama's return to the PISA test (Programme for International Student Assessment) in 2029. Applause, because the decision is correct. That preparation should begin in July 2026—when the OECD opens the process for PISA 2029. PISA is not a ranking of vanities. It is enough to see PISA 2025, the reduction of FECE funding to schools, the lack of school textbooks, or school feeding. The decision to rejoin PISA is a wise one. The difference, when the government changes, is what determines whether the reform survives or not, as is currently happening. The reasons given for the exit and return are not clear. The author is a member of Youth United for Education. The question is, because the same institution that, in October 2024, declared that PISA “is of no use to us as a country,” now tells us that this same test will measure the success of the curricular reforms it implements. What we need are good decisions for good reasons. That assessment, although valuable, is not equivalent to PISA. Furthermore, PISA highlights the weight of socioeconomic inequality on test results. It is precisely the data that Tue Halgreen, an OECD analyst, presented in Panama in January 2026, which are, in turn, the most actionable for a serious legislative reform. Panama decided to leave PISA without having interpreted the why behind the PISA results: 74th out of 81 countries in 2022, with 357 points in mathematics compared to an OECD average of 472. There is a concrete consequence that the reintegration communication omits: the results of PISA 2025 will be published in September 2026. It allows for comparing results with systems that are improving. This turn deserves an explanation. Let's start with the argument that justified the exit. And that the National Assembly, within the framework of the reform of Law 47 of 1946, consecrates participation in international evaluations as a legal obligation and not as a discretionary decision of the Ministry. Panama has been making educational decisions for decades without sufficient technical support. That this time we have reached the correct conclusion is good news. The country cannot depend on intuitions eventually coinciding with the evidence. Costa Rica, Colombia, and Chile will have updated their diagnosis in the midst of implementing reforms. President Mulino backed the exit. Minister Molinar stated that Panama had spent “more than 2 million dollars” on PISA without obtaining improvements. When we rejoin in 2029, we will have skipped two cycles, and the impact assessment that the Ministry promises will, for that reason, have a methodological limitation that could have been avoided. That said, the return is the correct decision. The news deserves applause and a question. ERCE measures curricular learning in primary school—3rd and 6th grade—while PISA focuses on determining the ability of 15-year-old students to apply their knowledge and skills in real-life situations. When a public policy decision is justified with a data point that does not hold up against the primary source, the problem is not one of communication: it is one of institutional credibility. The second argument is not sustainable either. It was indicated that the ERCE (Regional Comparative and Evaluative Study) test by UNESCO would be used as a more useful and lower-cost alternative. 92 countries participate in that edition. Panama will be absent. For the data to be evaluated and serve as the basis for state policy. It is the only instrument that allows for a precise view of the gaps within the country, between regions, between socioeconomic levels, between public and private schools. Two hundred seventeen thousand dollars. A country that aspires to be a global services hub cannot afford to operate its educational system based on misinformation. What we expect now is that this return will be different. It measures the relationship between school autonomy and student performance. Not two million. Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education, confirmed to La Prensa that the actual cost of participation was 199,105.00 euros, equivalent to $217,910.00. We, not so much.
