Teachers' strike ends  with no extension to school year

Teacher unions and representatives of the Ministry of Education (Meduca) reached an agreement to end the strike at  3 a.m.Saturday, December 2 after 17 hours of talks.

The educators who have been on strike since October 23 as a protest against the law that endorsed the contract between Minera Panamá and the State, will return to the classrooms starting t Monday, December 4.

There will be no extension of the school year until January 2024 in official schools, as Meduca had initially proposed.

According to the agreement signed by the representatives of the teaching unions and Minister Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, around 3:00 am this Saturday, the school year will end on December 29.

Until that date, the recovery of academic content is “prioritized” using “various pedagogical strategies, favoring the leveling and recovery processes.”

During the negotiations, Meduca had presented a proposal to extend the school year until January 12. This proposal included classes on Saturdays.

But the educators rejected it outright. “The leadership does not agree with that… we already defeated the mining contract and now we have to defeat those who want to impose things that go against the educators who won the liberation of the homeland and sovereignty,” he said during the meeting. Armando Espinosa, leader of the Association of Authentic Independent Teachers (Amia).

“We are not going to extend the calendar until the 12th and much less are we going to sacrifice students on Saturdays, that is impossible, colleagues,” he assured.

Meanwhile, the agreement establishes that educational centers with graduating students (9th and 12th) will make the pertinent adjustments in coordination with the Regional Directorates and the educational communities.

Meduca committed to “not take economic, administrative and disciplinary reprisals” against the educators who were on strike.

They also agreed that teachers, Meduca, and the Ombudsman’s Office will request the Ministry of Government to establish a commission in order to “ventilate and follow up on cases related to the administrative justice of teachers during this period.”

Likewise, Meduca will create a commission with the teaching unions to present a proposal “for the postmortem recognition of the murdered teachers and make possible the support required by their loved ones.”

According to the Minister, the students return to the classrooms on December 4. “That’s the most important thing.”

Agreement questioned
One of those who questioned the agreement was independent deputy Juan Diego Vasquez.

He said he did not agree with the non-recovery of classes. “This government between the pandemic and the demonstrations of 2022 and 2023 has been the one with the greatest loss for education,” he said.

He called on the teaching unions and Meduca to find another solution. “We must do what is necessary for the benefit of the children,” he added.