OPINION; A collapsing educational system

STUDENTS DAY was commemorated with much pain and little glory. While a school in the capital city suddenly ended the school year because its decrepit structure threatened to collapse on students and teachers, the President announced that the government would invest $38 million in improving schools in Chiriqui.

Meanwhile  the teachers’ unions expressed their opposition to the initiative of an extended school day, a proposal recognized internationally, to improve academic performance. Although the fiscal year is very close to completion, the Ministry of Education continues with a very low budget execution. Fathers and mothers, who must deal with the burden of the frustration generated by the public education system are the true heroes of a Panamanian tragedy, whose martyrs are the students. To the youth of the country we must offer our sincere apologies for the horrible crime that constitutes the public education in the country. We still have the hope of an educational revolution of committed citizens and with love for knowledge .Hoyporhoy, La Prensa, Oct.28