#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

The National Council of University Evaluation and Accreditation of Panama (CONEAUPA) in a statement reported that at its meeting held on 6 June, they unanimously approved the executive report that, based on the technical reports of the Technical Audit Commission, recommend sanctions to be taken against the houses of higher learning that after an investigation it was determined they failed to meet the established standards. The commission is made up of the official universities in the country. According to the note, the private universities failed to comply with the provisions of Law 30 of July 2006, which creates the National Assessment and Accreditation for Improving the Quality of University Education, regulated by executive decree 511 of 5 July 2010, which develops the procedure for the implementation of sanctions, and the Executive Decree 176 of March 30, 2011. Among the private universities being investigated are: Internacional University, Universidad de La Paz, University of Lousville, Universidad Internacional de Comercio y Educación, Oxford International University, Palladium University, Delphi University, and the Instituto Tecnológico Monterrey. The Ministry of Education (MEDUCA) is the entity responsible for taking action to apply the corresponding sanctions. The note emphasizes that on the website of the University of Panama there are the approved plans for the houses of private higher education that have been duly authorized to operate. (TVN Noticias)

Editor's Comment: Over the past few days Panama's Education Minister has been on the news saying the government would be shutting down the private universities in Panama that have been operating improperly, and without meeting all of the requirements stipulated by law. I was surprised to see the University of Louisville on the list ... one would think they would have had their act together.

For the Ministry of Education, two times seven equals 13. The mathematical operation can be seen in the back of the notebooks what were distributed for free along with backpacks to more than 800,000 students in government schools. What's more, there are also spelling errors on the words "multiplication" and "conversion" where the accent was mistakenly placed over the "i" instead of the "o" where it should have been. Luis Lopez, the director of the Teaching Unit Coordinator, described the error as "unacceptable for students. I do not know if it was a human error or a printing error, but it left the Ministry of Education looking bad," he said. The mistake went unnoticed by some teachers. In fact, Lopez learned about the errors when El Siglo approached him for comment.

Some students have been guided by the table, and have put "13" as their response to the question "how much is 2 x 7." Now, teachers will have to go back and explain to all of the students that this is wrong, said Yadira Pino of the Veragüenses Educators Association. The correct answer is 14. The blue notebooks with the logos of the Ministry of Education and the National Government, were delivered to students starting on 28 February 2011 along with other school supplies, textbooks and bonuses of $20 to parents.

Aixa Gómez, leader of the Parents Association has reacted to the "horrible blunder" claiming there is no justification for the error. "MEDUCA should have checked this table," said Gomez, before sending the notebooks to be printed. "The lack seriousness," added Gomez. Businessman Juan Carlos Mastellari said "the company that printed the notebooks should be made to do them again as a way to redress the harm caused to public education students."

Avoiding Responsibility: A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education dodged responsibility by saying the mistake was the on the part of the National Assistance Program (PAN), which handled the bidding process, both for the backpacks as well as the notebooks. The government spent $40 million dollars this year on backpacks, notebooks and books. El Siglo contacted the PAN Century PAN but we were told its director, Giacomo Tamburrelli is the only person authorized to give statements and yesterday he was in an area of ​​difficult access inside the country. (El Siglo)

Parents of the children who attend school at El Paraíso in Mariato expressed their great joy over the inauguration of a new school building for the students, but at the same time there was also a lot of disappointment because the campus has no electrical connection, despite the fact that the power line passes within 15 meters of the site. Luzmila Pérez, a mother and resident of El Paraíso, said she was very happy because before the school had a thatched roof, with walls made of corrugated metal and sheets of plywood, and the children would get wet when it rained because there were leaks in the roof. Now they have a brand new school equipped with a zinc roof and concrete walls, which is very convenient for students. Likewise, Heredia Aparicio, who lives in El Paraíso, said that now they have a decent school where the children can study. Other projects - Meanwhile, Felicita Caballero, who has spent three years working at the El Paraíso school in Mariato, acknowledged that before the school was in poor condition, but thanks to the Ministry of Education, it was possible to build a new one. For his part, Juan Jose Castillo, the representative from Mariato, said that although the school is less than 15 meters from the power lines, the facilities do not have electricity. He said it falls to the Ministry of Education to make the arrangements for the electrical connections on campus. (Mi Diario)

Editor's Comment: In 2011, we're building a new school with no electricity? I can't believe that. It has to be that they wanted to turn the new building over as quickly as possible once it was done, and the electrical connection will happen, but it's just not been done yet. But if they did build a new school without including electricity in the plan (well, the old school didn't have it, right?) then someone should be instantly bitch-slapped... For now, I'm remaining optimistic.

Evaluate careers most in demand - The Ministry of Education, the private sector and representatives of public and private universities will evaluate what careers have the highest level of demand in the labor market. The objective is that within 5 to 10 years over 35 colleges will include them in their curricula, said Education Minister Lucy Molinar. (La Prensa)

The students of the Superior Institute of Aviation Albrook Flight School remain in limbo, while the authorities identify a center with a similar educational opportunities; costs and other considerations, said Mirna de Crespo, the Vice Minister of Education. Panama's First Anti Drug Prosecutor closed the Superior Institute of Aviation Albrook Flight School, after discovering it was being used as a front for drug trafficking with alleged links to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). With respect to the loans from the Institute for Training and Human Resources Development (IFARHU) it was learned that the students may apply for transfer to other flight schools. (Telemetro)