The modernization of the education system in Panama was among the many issues raised during the recent Bishops Conference. Among those attending the activity was the Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar, who said this has been her goal since the first day she took office. "Of course, this is the task we have been working on since day one," she said. Molinar justified the Church's message Panama. "I think it's a legitimate statement, it's correct, from someone who cares about the country. I think we should all think about it," she said. The minister declined to comment on whether or not this statement would have anything to do with the latest developments in national politics, saying she made ​​a commitment to not allow these kinds of issues to intrude on education. "Despite the passion I have inside about it, I have to honor my word," said Molinar, who initially tried to shun the media as she left the conference of the bishops. (Panama America)

Editor's Comment: I have no idea why the career journalist Lucy Molinar would try to "shun" or avoid the media. She just drips with credibility and respectability. One gets the impression she would rather have her left arm torn off and eaten by a puma, than to steal a single dime of the government's money. She does not want to get involved in the day to day political brawls (this week - the resignation of Bosco Vallarino) and she only wants to talk about improving the education system in Panama. Of course she knows the media will ask her about the political crap, simply because she's a minister on Martinelli's cabinet. However, she should just stand there, smile, and reply with "why are you asking me about that? I'm the Minister of Education. Would you like to talk about the new and modernized curriculum? The money we've spent to build new schools or improve the existing infrastructure? The universal scholarship program? Continuing education programs to improve the skills of our teachers?" In other words, ignore the politics, and talk about the improvements she has made to the education system, which are many and substantial. If she wanted to get political, she could start off with "You know, since the last two Ministers of Education from the PRD administration of Martin Torrijos were arrested and thrown in prison for embezzlement, we've been able to make a whole lot of progress to fix the damage they left behind..."   

During the 2011 school year in Panama a total of 63,359 students failed one or more subject. The Ministry of Education pointed out this is a lower number of failures than what was recorded in 2010, when 76,961 students flunked. According to official figures, this year 41,373 students failed three for fewer subjects, which means they had the right to attend summer school remedial courses. Meanwhile, 21,986 students failed four or more subjects, meaning they will have to repeat the school year (about 9% of all students). In 2010 about 49,504 students attended summer school remedial courses, while 27,457 students had to repeat the school year - so there were decreases in both categories this year. Marisin Chanis, the Regional Director of Education, said that despite the decrease compared with 2010, the figures are alarming.

Questions: Andres Rodriguez, the President of the Association of Teachers (ASOPROFE), said although the Government has invested in education they cannot expect effective results if these projects are not planned. Rodriguez said this year programs such as the "universal scholarship" have been implemented, as well as bonds, and the delivery of free books. (Siglo)

Editor's Comment: Get this - the subject failed by most students - Spanish. In any case, these numbers represent an overall decrease of 21.4% in the failure rate compared to last year. Panama's Minister of Education and the government overall is working hard to improve the school system. These efforts center on an overhaul of the national curriculum - which has been heavily resisted by the entrenched teacher's union - mostly because they don't want to have to learn new materials or be held accountable for their performance. Despite these complaints Lucy Molinar has soldiered on. And this is the first time in a long time that I genuinely feel that the Panamanian school system will be better once she's done than when she started. By comparison, two former Education Ministers who served under the PRD administration of Martin Torrijos are facing corruption charges for embezzling money that was supposedly going to be used to clean "fiberglass contamination" from public schools. They were obviously more interested in stealing public funds than improving the public school system.   

Arturo Rivera, the Director of National Assessment of Education, of the Ministry of Education (MEDUCA), denied there was an increase in the number of students who failed during the 2011 school year. Rivera said on RPC Radio the statistics show during the 2010 school year 80% of students failed to pass, and in 2011 this figure decreased by 11%. According to reports, the factors influencing the failure of students within classrooms, is a lack of motivation and distractions from technology (cell phones and text messages.) The subjects with the most failures are mathematics and Spanish, areas in which the Meduca made sufficient staff available to meet demand. (Panama America)

Editor's Comment: You saw it right. This week the students who failed courses during the regular school year will start attending summer school classes in order to "make up" for the grades they could not achieve. In the Panamanian public school system any student can fail up to three subjects, and if they attend summer school to "reinforce" those materials, they can be advanced to the next grade for the following school year. If they fail four or more subjects then they are automatically held back a year. And, if they fail to either attend summer school or pass the subjects required for make-up or reinforcement, then they are also held back. Not only is it common for students to have to attend summer school, as highlighted in this article in 2010 some 80% of students had to attend summer school for at least one subject. And this year apparently that number dropped by 11% to 69% of all public school students.    

The Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar, reiterated on Monday, November 21, that due to the lack of water in the capital, classes in the different schools in the central and Eastern parts of the province of Panama as well as in the district of San Miguelito have been suspended. The Minister of Education said on TVN News, the measure was taken as a prudent act, following information provided by the Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (IDAAN), who said they are not sure of the quality of water that is reaching the different places served by the Chilibre water treatment plant. Although there are schools that have not had any problems with the lack of water supply, classes were suspended anyway, and Molinar in the rest of the country classes are proceeding normally. (Estrella)   

#Panama - Authorities from the Ministry of Education, parents, teachers and other educational community members are assessing the situation of students who were retained in the riot last Tuesday. Imelda Guerra, rector in charge of the National Institute, said today they will continue consultations with members of the educational community to study the file of each student. The academic transcripts and behavior of the 104 students who were arrested will be analyzed. These students were arrested while participating in the last four protest actions since 5 July 2011. Guerra said there will be a pre-enrollment application process, and priority will be given to those students with both good behavior and academic index. She added that students who have an index less than 4.0 or who have files for problems of discipline or disrespect for authorities will only be allowed to enter the campus on a conditional basis. (Siglo)

Editor's Comment: Police arrested 31 students from the National Institute during this most recent demonstration on Tuesday this week. When they say the students will be allowed to enter the campus on a "conditional" basis they mean a sort of probation - either fly straight or you'll be kicked out.    

#Panama - Teachers' unions met Saturday for the third time in three working groups established with the Ministry of Education in the City of Knowledge. Even the three tables - which are labor, curriculum changes, and social issues - have not reached any agreement. But today, educators delivered a set of proposals. The teachers' union leader, Andres Rodriguez said the discussion is dilating because they are not addressing the core issues. He also reported intimidation.

For his part, Deputy Minister Jose Herrera Kivers said they seek dialogue, but stressed that the protest that occurred on the premises of the facility did not contribute to the intention to establish an agreement. And while this meeting is taking place, members of the Association of Teachers Veragüense (AEVE) protested on the grounds of the place. They insist on the restitution request of the commissioners of Bocas del Toro, who were dismissed last year by the Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar for alleged irregularities. (TVN)

Editor's Comment: The Minister of Education Lucy Molinar is trying hard to fix Panama's public education system, however the entrenched teacher's union vehemently oppose many of her changes. The system in place today in Panama is like something straight out of the 70's. If Molinar's changes are installed then the existing teachers would have to learn new material and work harder - things they don't want to do. What's more, the MEDUCA is working to root out graft and corruption - recently they broke up a band that was taking bribes to manipulate teachers assignments. All of these teachers are public employees, and the most vocal opposition leader - Andres Rodriguez - is great at getting his name in the paper and his face on television, but he does not represent or speak for the vast majority of public school teachers in Panama. He represents a very radical and extreme left-wing fringe movement that would be happy if they could take over the country in a Hugo Chavez style revolution. He has comrades in his struggle, such as the SUNTRACS and similar minority elements in other union organizations. Anyway, the teachers and the government are talking today.   

#Panama - Starting next Monday, October 17, students in the Ngobe Bugle region and the province of Bocas de Toro, will receive the payment of universal scholarship for the second quarter of the year, as reported by the staff of the Institute for Training and Development of Human Resources (IFARHU). For their parts, Rafael Pineda and Mixa Rodríguez, the Directors of IFARHU for the provinces of Chiriqui and Veraguas, where there are also communities of the Ngöbe Buglé region, said students must present their report cards, which must have a minimum GPA of 3.00, as a condition for receiving the scholarship.

For the provinces of Herrera and Los Santos payments will continue on 27 and 28 October, followed by Coclé on 7 to 9 November, and Colon from 14 to 15 November, while for the Darien and the Kuna and Embera communities it will be paid from 16 to 18 November, and in Veraguas from 5 to 7 December. Students in the province of Panama will receive the benefit of the following breakdown by area; District of San Miguelito from 21 to 22 November, Western Panama from 23 to 25 November, and Panama Metro from 29 November to 2 December.

Some 290,000 students benefit from the government's universal scholarship program nationwide, with the state spending some $21 million dollars per quarter and more than $70 million dollars per year, officials said on TVN Noticias. (Estrella)

Editor's Comment: This "universal scholarship" program was instituted by the government of Ricardo Martinelli. Parents receive quarterly checks of $20 per student to help pay for books, uniforms, shoes, or what have you. There's one payment made right before the school year starts, and then three more during the course of the year, for a total of $80 per year, per student. The Panamanian schools grades run on a scale from 1.0 (failing) to 5.0 (best possible grade.) The pass/fail cutoff is 3.0 so students need passing grades in order to receive the benefit. Through this program the government of Panama is putting $70 million dollars per year right back into the hands of parents who really need the money, and they immediately turn around and spend it on books, paper, pencils, erasers, rulers, uniforms, etc. It's a very popular program, and it also serves as a steady reminder of "hey, we're here to help you, at least a little." This program goes hand-in-hand with the "$100 for 70" program, which pays a small amount of money to senior citizens who don't receive any other kind of regular retirement check.   

#Panama - Education Minister, Lucy Molinar on Thursday went to the headquarters of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), to meet with the president of the collective Francisco Sanchez Cardenas, Susana Richard de Torrijos, and other former officials of MEDUCA, to discuss educational issues. The minister explained her program to transform the curriculum in the schools to the PRD, as part of a strategy to consult with the different sectors of society. Molinar told the PRD had she did not start anything new in education, but rather she just put into motion things that had already been discussed. (Estrella)

Lucy Molinar, Panama's Education Minister   

Panama's Minister of Education Lucy Molinar said the institution has teachers ready to attend to students during the 48-hour nationwide strike called by the teachers' unions. Molinar said it is always the same sector which opposes the changes she is trying to make, so she doubts the call to strike will be respected by the majority. She added that when she knows what the majority of the teachers really want, then they will answer. "I now understand why Panama is 30 years behind in making changes to the education system. Every time you try to make changes in education these things happen," lamented the Minister of Education. As reported by the Minister, the strike will take place on Thursday 28 July and Friday 29 July, because it's a payday so they will have money over the weekend. (La Estrella)

Lucy Molinar - Panama's Minister of Education

Editor's Comment: The group that's calling for a teachers' strike is a relatively small minority, and they do not represent the wants or wishes of the vast majority of the teachers who work for the Ministry of Education. Molinar is fighting to implement changes to the system which would actually require the teachers to work, to learn new things, to implement new methods and technologies, and the best and brightest among them would be promoted. The resistance comes from an old group of lazy geezers who learned the basics 30 years ago. They have been teaching the exact same thing for decades and they don't want to be forced to learn anything new, to have to actually work, to apply themselves, or to basically get off of their asses. The only time they stand up is to attend a protest. Resistance from the "juega vivos" - what a great example for the nation's youth. They can usually muster enough support to shut down about 7% to 10% of the schools.   

Gustavo Garcia de Paredes was declared winner of the Dean of the University of Panama. His followers dressed in red celebrated his fifth consecutive election victory as the leader of the Panamanian house of higher learning. As soon as the official results started coming in at about 9:00 pm last night, Gustavo Garcia de Paredes took an imposing lead over his only challenger, Professor Eduardo Flores, who had promised to overthrow Gustavo Garcia de Paredes, speaking of him as a dictator, he promised to change the face of the institution. However, as the results started coming in from the Central Board of Scrutiny of the University of Panama, the trend was favoring Garcia de Paredes, but not widely, and apparently many people voted against him and the balance was fairly close. When the count began there were many allegations of irregularities and the initial numbers showed 76.51% of the votes for Gustavo Garcia de Paredes and Flores trailing with 22.34%. However with the arrival of more and more results the election tightened up and the suspense grew over who had won, and at the close of counting the score was 52% in favor of Garcia de Paredes and 47% for Flores. The other percentage went to Edgardo Molino Mola, who declined to join the bloc against the current president, but his name appeared on the ballot. Rector García de Paredes was proclaimed the winner of the election at 10:54 pm and the celebration began, surrounded by faculty, staff, friends, and some of the managers he appointed. The Rector of the University of Panama is selected in a weighted voting process - 60% from the teachers, 30% from the students, and 10% from the administrative staff. When proclaimed, the man called the "perpetual president" by his opponents at the start of the campaign, will take over in October this year and will complete his fifth consecutive five year term in 2016. (La Estrella)

Gustavo Garcia de Paredes Has Won A Fifth Consecutive Term As The Rector of the University of Panama