School celebration of Halloween may be axed

A scary monster is abroad in Panama  well before Halloween. A bill to ban Halloween festivities in all Panama schools public and private, is on the agenda of the National Assembly
Bill 334 is being driven by Panameñista deputy Alcibiades Vasquez, who said on the weekend he was confident that it will get the votes of his legislative colleagues.
"These parties have caused youth and children to completely forget the patriotic festivities," he argued.
"Colleges, schools and other educational institutions, are forgetting their mission of training Panamanian students, and marking national events. Instead they have focused on Halloween celebrations and children and young people learn to forget our history and nationality" said Vasquez,
Halloween, is a Celtic festival which is celebrated mainly in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries, including Panama, on October 31 each year. which coincides with the eve of national holidays celebrating Panama’s independence, from Colombia and Spain
Yadira Pino, leader of the Veragüenses Educators Association, told La Prensa that the measure is positive, because one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education is to cultivate the traditions of the country in all educational institutions of the Republic, and Halloween distorts the message. However, he says that it is contradictory that another recently passed bill (407), which eliminated the subject of "Relations between Panama and the United States."