Panama: the drama of the country closed for the longest time

Almost 60% of all children and adolescents who have missed a full school year live in Latin America and the Caribbean worldwide due to lockdowns due to the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Unicef. On average, countries in the region closed their schools for a period of 158 working days, more than any other part of the planet.

With 211 days without face-to-face lessons – until February 2021 -, Panama has become the country with the longest shutdown not only on the mainland but worldwide. If the vacation period is included, the children have not attended school for 16 months.

“The impact was multidimensional,” he explains to THE NATION Carlos Smith, clinical psychologist, member of the Panamanian Chamber of Social Development and director of Links (Fec), a foundation dedicated to education. “There was a huge gap between private and public schools before the pandemic, and that gap has widened. With regard to the university field, there has been a very significant deterioration in learning. There has also been a deterioration in mental health due to lack of social interaction, domestic violence has increased and sexual abuse has increased, since schools were protective factors to prevent such abuse ”.

“In addition, schools offered the only balanced meal that some children received per day or the only medical and dental check-up,” he adds.

In response to the educational emergency underlying the pandemic crisis, the Ministry of Education (Meduca) established a national strategy to ensure the continuity of education. He created an open access web platform and launched the “Conéctate con la Estrella” program, a course system through radio and television..

According to the results, last year eight out of ten children received some form of distance education. But in the most vulnerable places, six in ten children received an education through non-interactive platforms, such as WhatsApp, radio, television or modules, which involved “an appalling impoverishment of the quality of education,” according to Smith. “Meduca’s strategy was far removed from the reality of children. They are betting on the development of virtual classrooms when, in a country as unequal as Panama, there are communities that do not have access to the Internet, ”adds the expert.

A survey carried out by the NGO Aliados por la Niñez y la Adolescencia, in collaboration with Unicef, revealed that 1 in 3 adolescents had no direct contact with their school in 2020, increasing the risk of long-term school dropout.

“We get tired of virtuality because nothing can be learned through a screen and there are many students who do not have the necessary resources for virtual lessons”, he laments over the audio THE NATION Jeysmin Amador, 6th year student at the National Institute.

According to the U-Report platform, 75% of students wish to return to semi-face or face-to-face lessons, and only 25% say they receive the explanations they need from their teachers via existing platforms.

“I really miss the class in class, seeing my classmates. The day in front of a screen is very exhausting, it no longer motivates me to get up early to follow this routine. At least my teachers make an effort to dispel our doubts, to explain to us well, but there are boys who do not have the same luck, ”says Andrea Batista, a 9th year from Colegio Nuestra Señora de La Merced, located in El Chorrillo district of Panama City.

At present, in Panama, 19 schools are certified as “safe schools”, 437 schools providing private lessons, 2,659 health committees have been established in schools and 60 childcare centers (CAIPI) are operating in nobody.

However, the Meduca has already announced that the first term of 2021 will run virtually for most schools.

“In many parts of the world, schools are the first to reopen and the last to close. But in Latin America and the Caribbean, schools are usually the last to open and the first to close, ”explains Jean Gough, UNICEF regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “As the new school year begins across much of the region, several countries have started to gradually reopen their schools. However, there are still several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where classrooms remain closed. For them, it is urgent to give priority to the reopening of schools and to take all measures to make it as safe as possible ”.

The NGO network that advocates a safe, gradual, flexible and voluntary reopening has received a lot of resistance from teachers’ unions and some parent groups. “There is a lot of fear,” said Smith while congratulating the head of government of the city of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, for “ensuring the safety of his messages and pleading for the reopening of schools”.