Bill 297.

Summary.

The bill amends Law 47 of 1946 to expand educational opportunities for young people and adults who have not completed primary or secondary education. It provides for evening, Saturday, blended, and virtual formats in corregimientos (districts), communities, or areas where technical studies and territorial assessments establish a need for the service and a population over 15 years of age and adult learners sufficient to sustain it. It links this provision to continuing education, civic participation, social inclusion, and the right to education under the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama. It also envisages skills for life, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Implementation would fall to the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación, MEDUCA), working with communal boards, local development boards, and other public or private institutions. In planning programs, the ministry would consider local demand, enrollment projections, socioeconomic conditions, and existing facilities and programs. It could enter cooperation agreements with local governments, universities, civil society organizations, companies, and international organizations at sites meeting minimum conditions. It would also supervise, monitor, and evaluate the programs. It would preferably use existing public school facilities and could open additional sites where territorial, social, or demographic circumstances require them.

Adult education would have three levels: general basic education, comprising literacy, primary, and lower secondary education; secondary education; and higher education. The first level would last six years. Programs could operate in morning, afternoon, evening, Saturday, or combined sessions suited to participants’ work, family, and social circumstances. Their curricula would follow official plans and standards while covering citizenship, critical thinking, technology, social equity, and productive development, with teaching methods adapted to young people and adults. Vocational education would cover workplace training and the use of technologies, tools, machinery, and equipment. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) would regulate these courses. The Ministry of Education could coordinate with the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development of Panama (Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral de Panamá, MITRADEL), INAHDE, the productive sector, and other bodies on employment placement and continuing training.

Participants who complete literacy, primary, and lower secondary studies would receive a first-level completion certificate. The Ministry of Education could establish certification based on competence and maturity and would develop procedures to assess and recognize learning gained through work, community, family, or personal experience. Regulations would set the procedures, technical criteria, and academic effects of that recognition. The State would promote education programs in correctional facilities. The bill also provides for temporary appointments of directors and deputy directors where no budget position exists, with allocations of 15 hours or 18 hours according to the type of center, and encourages community participation.

The State would ensure the availability of print and digital materials and promote accessible educational technologies. The Executive Branch could provide assistance to help students enter, remain in, and complete their studies, including, at a minimum, support for access to materials; scholarships, transport subsidies, meals, and other assistance could also be offered. It would include the required resources annually in the General State Budget. The Ministry of Education would establish funding arrangements both for programs in official schools and for authorized sites without a decree establishing them as formal schools. Sponsoring companies could receive tax incentives under current rules. The bill coordinates its application with Law 47 of 1946, the Organic Law of Education, permits regulatory adjustments, and requires the Executive Branch to issue regulations within six (6) months. It would take effect in the fiscal year following its promulgation.

The subject matter involves the Ministry of Education, the Executive Branch, and the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development of Panama, along with communal boards, local governments, and correctional facilities. It could affect young and adult learners, educational institutions, community organizations, sponsoring companies, and the vocational training and productive sectors.