The Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar, revealed that soon they would create a National Plan of Values, involving parents, students, civic clubs, and sectors of civil society. Molinar said the problems of human behavior and violence, in which some students have been involved, is part of the problem of family breakdown. She said there is a lack of values among the students, added to the messages they receive from the media and the environment in general. "The lack of values ​​in society is a problem for everyone, not just the education system," she said.

On another issue, Minister Molinar said the students from the Jacoba Urriola Solis school, located in Portobelo, Colon province, who have been affected by a strange phenomenon (fainting, seizures) are being addressed by specialists Counseling Center. She called on parents not to close the doors of the school because they would be doing harm to other students. She said the problems of human behavior are not like "a street that is damaged which can be repaired with cement" and she asked the mothers of students to reach out thoroughly with the investigations, and if some teachers are involved they will be punished. She said according to previous experiences with these kinds of cases, it has nothing to do with demonic possession and are caused by other problems. (Critica)

Editor's Comment: There are basically two stories in the news along this vein. First of all there have been attacks committed by students against their teachers. In one case a kid slashed his teacher's face with a razor, and in another a student was planning to poison her teacher. The second part has to do with teenage girls who are supposedly experiencing some sort of "seizures" (flopping around on the ground) but in reality it's just attention seeking behavior, requiring mental health professionals, not priests to conduct exorcisms.

Reinela Moreno, a teacher at the Victoriano Lorenzo de Las Lomas school in David, Chiriqui Province, is recovering after being attacked with a box cutter by a 13 year old student. Moreno, who has filed a complaint with the Public Ministry, will not return to school on Monday, when classes resume, because of her medical condition. Academic activities have been suspended at the school since last Thursday after the attack. Meanwhile, teachers at the Victoriano Lorenzo school are preparing to receive students who will be taking their quarterly tests, and they will also be given counseling. (Telemetro)

Editor's Comment: How many times do you see "copy cat" activity among students of this age group? After this attack made the news last week, almost immediately another student arrived at school with plans to poison her teacher.

Marisin Chanis, the Director General of Education, confirmed that a seventh grade student at the National Institute attempted to poison a teacher because the teacher punished the student over an irregular behavior. Chanis explained that some colleagues reported that the girl had a poison which she introduced into the classroom. The student herself told the teacher what she intended to do. Chanis said the student will be suspended and receive psychological and psychiatric care by the Counseling Center. The MEDUCA official said she was surprised by the irregular behavior of some students, and she appealed to parents to monitor their children and fulfill their role of values ​​education within the home. (Critica)

A 13-year-old seventh grade student at the Victoriano Lorenzo school in the village of Las Lomas, in the district of David, Chiriquí, assaulted his teacher Reynelia Moreno, who teaches Religion, cutting her in the face with a razor.

The situation occurred when the student approached the teacher in the staff room, and asked her if she had asked for his mother to be summoned to the school.

Moreno told him that she had only told his sister that she had cut class yesterday, then she turned to leave the teacher's lounge, said Alicia Miranda, who accompanied the teacher Moreno at that time.

Miranda said once the teacher spoke with the student, she returned to the classroom, because she had to teach a class, and that's when she returned, holding her face which was covered in blood and screaming that the student had cut her face.

It was learned by the teachers at the school that the teacher had a wound almost 10 centimeters long (4 inches) from the chin to the neck, so she was treated in the emergency health center at the school, and then she was transferred to the Regional Hospital Rafael Hernandez, in the city of David. (Critica)

Despite the agreement signed yesterday to ensure they comply, differences surfaced again between the Ministry of Education officials and spokesmen representing public school teachers regarding the role of the Commission of Guarantors, with the participation of the Church, in an interview on the channel 2 TVN morning news broadcast. The Director of Personnel of the Ministry of Education (MEDUCA) Silvia Garcia said on the commission the Catholic Church and the lawyers representing the teachers who have been fired will have a role as observers in order to guarantee the compliance with due process, and the role of the Ministry of Education will be to create the climate so that the process can continue in accordance to the rule of law.

Joaquin Rodriguez, of the Veraguas Educators Association, said they must abide by any decision adopted by the commission. However, after listening to the statements made by Garcia, Rodriguez said an external Commission is necessary as a Conciliation Board because he believes the teachers are defenseless. Rodriguez said it should not be that a single Principal in a school is the one who can investigate, punish, and reconsider the decision on the expulsion of a teacher.

Garcia reiterated that the Commission will oversee the process of the teachers who have been dismissed, including Professor Andres Rodriguez. Some cases have already been elevated to the MEDUCA, while that of Professor Rodriguez has not yet left the Education Center where he worked (Colegio Abel Bravo). Garcia reiterated that teachers on the Staff Selection Committee of Bocas del Toro who had been dismissed will be reinstated in their functions as educators. She said they had been removed, but at the end of time for which they had been designated to the Staff Selection Committee has expired, so they will be moved to the classrooms. These educators from Bocas del Toro had submitted a guarantee protection in the courts and administrative resources in the MEDUCA, but these have not been resolved because the Ministry of Education could do nothing.

Both Garcia and Rodriguez agreed that something must be done in order to recover the time lost in classes due to the strike. Rodriguez said the MEDUCA should use the same formula that has been used when teachers go to workshops.

Euclid Mendez, of the Education Observation organization, suggested that the teachers could catch up on weekends or increase the intensity of the material, with tables summarizing methods, in order to not put additional pressure on the students. Mendez said the teachers want to talk to the Minister Molinar on the issue of the quality of education, because the curriculum transformation fails, because it does not have as its axis an emphasis on teaching the students how to think. According to Mendez, only 32 percent of students pass the reasoning test used to enter the University of Panama. She said one of every two students did not pass the test of reading comprehension, the written communication test, and they have problems with language and reasoning. (TVN)

Editor's Comment: OK, so that answers the question I had about what they are going to be doing about Andres Rodriguez. Right now the problem the teachers had is that one single person - the principal at the school where he worked - was the one who opened the investigation against him, decided to fire him, and also was the one who reconsidered (and probably denied) his appeal. Now they have created this higher level board to review those decisions in the case of Rodriguez and other teachers who have been fired, and the Catholic Church and the lawyers representing the fired teachers acting as observers to ensure due process. So the bottom line basically remains the same. If Rodriguez was, in fact, fired because be broke the law, then he's gone. Strike's over. Have a nice day. In the end of the day the rest of the teachers backed him up to the point of ensuring he got a fair "trial" or review of his case, and that's fair. But the bottom line won't change. I like it...

Four students from the Felix Esteban Oller school in Narganá were temporarily suspended for looking at pornography on the laptops given to them recently by the Ministry of Education. Nicolas Adames, deputy director of the campus, said the action against the students will be effective after the monthly exams. Adames called on parents to be more concerned with the use of the computers. (Estrella)

The Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar, once again called on parents to send their children to school in spite of the strike called by eight teachers unions. Molinar said we cannot allow ourselves to be "kidnapped" by a group of teachers who refuse to accept that the education system has changed, and that they cannot achieve their goals by shouting and making threats. She said the Ministry of Education has every intention of talking with the teachers' unions, but they insist on crippling classes. Molinar said they will not compromise, and that the teacher Andres Rodriguez and other teachers who have been fired have the right to file legal resources (appeals) which will ensure due process. Molinar said she would attend a meeting today with the teachers' unions, mediated by the Catholic church, despite the suspension of classes. (Critica)

Editor's Comment: I don't think Rodriguez has that much support among the rank and file of the teacher's unions around the entire country. He broke the law, and because of his actions he was fired. Molinar is trying to fix, update, modernize, and improve the education system in Panama. And as part of her efforts they simply need to "break" these entrenched union leaders - who have been holding the system hostage for decades. In short, things can't improve until guys like Rodriguez are gone. I hope she hangs tough.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The public teachers union have called for a nationwide strike, starting tomorrow at 7:00 am. There was a meeting tonight that ended at 8:15 pm between representatives from the teachers' union and the Ministry of Education, moderated by the Catholic church. The primary demand of the teachers was the reinstatement of union leader Andres Rodriguez, who was fired last month from his position at a school in Colon. Apparently those talks failed, and the union has called for a strike.

In their statement they called on parents to keep their children at home. In fact, it remains to be seen if the teachers have enough support among the rank and file of their members to pull off a strike in support of Andres Rodriguez. Chances are they will be able to shut down a few schools, but probably not the entire school system. Let's see how it pans out. As of right now, the strike starts tomorrow morning.

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

The secretary of the Teachers Association of the Republic of Panama, Andres Rodriguez, gave the Ministry of Education until 2:00 pm today to reinstate him and start a dialog with the teachers. Otherwise, Rodriguez said they will face an indefinite strike by teachers unions, starting tomorrow. The General Secretary of the Trade Union of Construction Workers and Allied (SUNTRACS) Genaro Lopez confirmed yesterday that they would join the strike. Lopez said picketing will be done in buildings on Calle 50 and in Paitilla to protest the decision of the director of the Abel Bravo school Leticia Paddy de Holder to fire the teacher's union leader. Although the notice of dismissal was given on July 31, the teacher continues to go to the campus. Faced with the ultimatum yesterday from the teachers, the Deputy Minister of Education Mirna de Crespo, invited the leaders to "assess the negative consequences" that would be generated by a potential work stoppage. She said taking a rapprochement, MEDUCA would propitiate, in time, through the Minister of Education, Lucy Molinar. (Siglo)

Editor's Comment: Rodriguez knows he doesn't have enough support among the public school teachers to matter, so the SUNTRACS guys are coming out to provide some troops in support. But I doubt they will really go to the mat, either. When they say they will "picket" in front of a building on Calle 50, what that means is they will pull one of their 20 minute lunchtime strikes - in which they come down out of the building where they are working to block traffic for 20 minutes to make a statement - and then they are back on the job and working before the riot police have the time to show up. In other words, a symbolic show of solidarity, but not going "all in" to support Rodriguez.

A number of faults generated the dismissal of Professor Andrés Rodríguez, among them the blockading of the office of the Principal and Vice Principal at the Abel Bravo school where he worked, an act that was caught on camera and used as the primary evidence of his failures. The Deputy Director of the Abel Bravo school, Nitzia Murillo, explained that the incident took place in October 2011, and it was an act of disrespect for the authorities on the campus. The teacher Andres Rodriguez was dismissed a few weeks ago, there have been protest actions by some teachers since then in response, and they have even threatened to go on strike. The Deputy Minister of Education Mirna de Crespo appealed to the conscience of the good teachers to remain in their posts, because they are responsible, and they work to improve the education system. (Telemetro)

Editor's Comment: Ah, they caught him being a disrespectful rabble rousing idiot on video. Good for them. Adios, asshole...