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Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository Lehigh Preserve Institutional Repository Panama's Great Challenge: Reforming the Educational System Harris, Sabrina 2007 Find more at https://preserve.lib.lehigh.edu/ This document is brought to you for free and open access by Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PANAMA’S GREAT CHALLENGE: REFORMING THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Sabrina Harris Esta es la oportunidad de garantizar el presente y el futuro de nuestras generaciones. — Martín Torrijos Introduction decade, both the World Bank and the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) have spon- Panama is striving to become a flourish- sored education projects to assist Panama in ing democracy, to build a stronger economy, improving the quality of its educational system. and to reduce poverty among its population. With their most recent projects, these agencies The attainment of these goals, however, is being are attempting to improve both the quality and hindered by significant deficiencies in the coun- coverage of education in Panama. At the same try’s educational system. Recognizing that a time, they are also focusing on traditionally dis- solid education and the skills it generates are advantaged groups (such as the indigenous key to economic growth and poverty reduction, population) in order to close existing gaps in the Panamanian government has become very education. involved in efforts to reform its educational sys- After providing a brief introduction to tem. For example, the Ministry of Education Panama’s educational system and its history, in has developed a program (“the Government this article I examine why the system is in need Program”) stretching from 2004 to 2009, which of reform and what the most pressing areas for is intended to tackle several of the many chal- reform are. I then analyze the main reform lenges that Panama’s educational system is cur- efforts currently led by the World Bank, rently facing. (Gobierno Nacional) Over the last Panama’s Ministry of Education, and the IDB 15 in order to examine how the country seeks to school, students can take either of two educa- address various educational issues. While any tional paths: an academic or a vocational one. assessment of the effectiveness of these projects Almost three quarters of the student population can only be preliminary, past experiences can chooses the academic route, consisting of two give an indication as to what one can expect in three-year cycles of general and then of more terms of the outcome of these reforms. focused studies. The vocational route, on the other hand, provides students with the techni- Historical Background cal skills needed for direct employment. In order to attend university, students have to In order to explain the roots of the current obtain the bachillerato (awarded after comple- challenges to Panama’s educational system, I tion of the upper cycle of the academic course provide in this section a brief overview of its his- of studies), which is an emblem of middle-class tory. Soon after gaining independence from status. (“Education”) In this article, I focus on Colombia in 1903, Panama implemented a sys- elementary education through the completion tem of public education. This system, however, of high school. These years are the ones that lay segregated students by social class. As the First the foundation for higher-level education, and Panamanian Educational Assembly declared in they are thus key to the political, economic, and 1913, “Education should be different in accor- social development of Panama. dance with the social class to which the student should be related.” (“Education”) This elitist Current Challenges of Panama’s system, which largely perpetuated social Educational System inequalities, was replaced in the 1920s by a more inclusive one while Panama was under Panama’s educational system is today still U.S. influence. Universal primary education plagued by significant inequalities in both cov- became one focus of the government’s efforts erage and quality of education between urban to drive down illiteracy rates throughout the and rural areas. Coverage of education refers to country. Although initial improvements were the degree to which students in a specific geo- made, a few decades later gains had slowed sig- graphical area have access to schooling. While nificantly, and a great disparity in literacy rates universal access to education and high educa- persisted. This disparity was especially pro- tion quality are both important goals, reform- nounced between the urban and rural popula- ers face a constant trade-off between the two tions. In 1998, for example, a study showed that since resources are limited. An additional con- “94 percent of city-dwelling adults were liter- straint comes into play because changes in the ate, but fewer than two-thirds of those in the quality of education are extremely difficult to countryside were.” (“Education”) Additionally, measure. (Sanguinetty, p. 35) It is easier to doc- rural areas in Panama are inhabited mostly by ument the building of more schools and class- the indigenous people, who are therefore rooms than it is to assess the impact of disproportionately affected by educational improved teaching methods. As the reform inequality. efforts analyzed below illustrate, however, At the same time, the Panamanian con- Panama is seeking to address both issues of cov- stitution establishes that “all have the right to erage and quality to improve its educational an education” and that “educational institu- system. tions, whether public or private, are open to all students without distinction of race, social posi- Lack of Coverage in Education tion, political ideology, religion.” (“Right to Education”) Not only do all Panamanians have Rural regions tend to be inhabited most- the right to an education, but it is also their ly by poorer families as well as by Panama’s duty to obtain at least a basic education; in various indigenous peoples, both of whom con- other words, primary education is compulsory. tinue to be greatly disadvantaged in terms of After completing the six-year cycle of primary access to education. Rural and indigenous pop- 16 ulations often live very far away from the near- The Importance of Education est primary school. At the same time, they need their children for work at the farm to assist with Education is crucial for the development their subsistence agriculture. These circum- of both Panama’s economy and its democracy. stances lead to far lower primary school com- Studies have shown that increased spending on pletion rates, especially among the indigenous education positively affects a country’s business population. In 2002 only about six percent of climate and that the resulting improved per- Panama’s non-indigenous population failed to formance by at-risk students allows them to complete primary education, compared to more make greater contributions to the economy. than 45 percent of the indigenous people. (Schweke, p. 2) In addition, it is also important (“Quantity without Quality…,” p. 11) to invest in the right areas. According to When it comes to middle school coverage, Schweke, major improvements that should be the situation is even worse. As the IBD Report considered are reducing class sizes, introduc- on the reformulated Educational Development ing technology into the classroom, and improv- Project notes, “There are no opportunities in ing teacher training as well as accountability rural or indigenous areas for students who have structures. (Schweke, p. 2) Closer analysis of completed primary school to advance to the Panama’s education reforms illustrates how the middle school level.” (“Short Procedure,” p. 5) country is addressing some of these problems. For example, the Kuna, one of Panama’s indige- Additionally, education is a major factor in nous groups who live on the islands off the determining the level of civic engagement and country’s northeastern shore, have only very political participation of the people, which in limited access to schools unless they move to turn are essential for a healthy democracy. the mainland. During a conversation I had with Recent studies conclude that educated people a group of Kuna in May 2006, one Kuna woman are more likely to be involved politically and explained that there are fifty different commu- civically than those with less education. (Zukin, nities on the islands, and most have an p. 133) Some scholars, such as Nancy Burns, elementary school. However, there are only six even go as far as to label formal education as middle schools and just one high school “the single most important resource for politi- available to these students. If a family does not cal participation.” (Burns, p. 8) live on an island with a school, the child will The consequences of the current defi- either not go to school, instead helping the ciencies of Panama’s education system are thus parents make a living, or will be sent off to far-reaching. The rural (poor) and indigenous another island with a school and live with a peoples especially face extreme difficulties in an foster family. The one high school available has effort to improve their standard of living and to a concentration only in agriculture. Therefore, advance in society. At the same time, they are if a student wants to pursue another field, he or not contributing to Panama’s economic growth she must move to the mainland of Panama. as much as they could if they had a better edu- While such an inadequate infrastructure cation. Having recognized the need for univer- dramatically limits the Kuna’s access to educa- sal primary education, the UN established that tion, they are just one example of a group one of its Millennium Development Goals facing this problem. There are numerous other should be to “ensure that, by 2015, children indigenous groups and rural areas that lack everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to adequate schools and for whom education complete a full course of primary schooling.” beyond the elementary level is barely accessi- (“Achieve Universal…”) Current reform efforts ble.
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