Teachers trainintg abroad to raise English levels

OVER 1,000 TEACHERS from Panama will be heading for universities abroad in the first weeks of January for  advanced training in the teaching of English   as a continuation of  the Bilingual Panama program.

They will study in universities in the United States, Canada,the UK and Barbados.

In a ceremony on the Cinta Costera on Monday, January 4, the President Juan Carlos Varela highlighted the progress of the program.

“We have successfully completed the first year of the  international teacher training program. We are seeing teacher learning not only new  methodologies, in  the strengthening of English but also benefiting immensely, from cultural immersion “said the president.

To date  more than 1, 500 thousand teachers and 15,000  students have benefited from the  Panama bilingual program, but , the government’s goal is for the training of  20,000 teachers to teach at various schools in the country.

Among the universities that host the Panamanian students and teachers are: University of Southern Mississippi, Georgia Tech University, University of Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana University, Anglia Ruskin University, Leeds Beckett University.

The  teachers who receive the  training, sign an agreement with the State to work for five years. Those who are already part of the education system, apply their knowledge in their respective classrooms.