Bill 617.

Summary.

The bill adds definitions to Law 47 of 1946 concerning curriculum adaptation, quality, basic competencies, the school community, decentralization, equity, learning standards, comprehensive education, giftedness, and exceptional talent. It recognizes education as a free, compulsory, universal, and inalienable right from early childhood through secondary education, and assigns the State responsibility for organizing and directing public and private education. It revises the principles and aims of education in Panama, including inclusion, intercultural education, comprehensive development, evaluation, accountability, and scientific and technological advancement. It also repeals provisions of the law and requires continuous updating of the education system.

The proposed section on equity and inclusion assigns the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) responsibility for defining basic teaching requirements and supervising private institutions. It provides for compensatory programs for schools in isolated communities, marginalized rural areas, and Indigenous territories; equipment and connectivity; public monitoring of educational gaps; and boarding facilities where distance warrants them. It regulates bilingual intercultural education in Indigenous regions and multigrade instruction in remote schools. It prohibits excluding students on the grounds specified in the text and protects educational continuity during pregnancy or motherhood. It includes student protection protocols, access to digital resources, and coordination between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) on physical, mental, and nutritional care. It also establishes a framework for schools with a social purpose operated by nonprofit associations under an agreement.

The bill assigns the State responsibility for providing resources and oversight for the education system, confirms the Ministry of Education’s governing role, and organizes administration at the central, regional, school circuit, and school levels. It provides for a results based institutional structure, validated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas) and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República). It assigns the Executive Branch authority to set the school year and allows different regional calendars based on climate, geography, and safety conditions. It establishes vice ministries for academic affairs, administration, and infrastructure, allocates national directorates among them, and provides for the coordination of construction projects and budgets. The specified internal restructuring of the academic area would have a deadline of 120 calendar days from the proposed law’s entry into force.

A quality assurance system is created comprising the National Institute for Educational Quality Assessment (Instituto Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad Educativa), the Permanent Multisectoral Council for the Implementation of the National Commitment to Education (Consejo Permanente Multisectorial para la Implementación del Compromiso Nacional por la Educación), and the Institute for Educator Development and Wellbeing (Instituto de Perfeccionamiento y Bienestar del Educador). A Coordination Committee would link their functions to Ministry of Education planning, meet in ordinary session at least 4 times a year, and prepare a public report on the education system every 2 years for presentation through the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional).

Regarding the school environment, the bill prohibits the establishment of specified alcohol outlets, gambling venues, and other listed businesses within 100 meters of schools, and provides for the denial of permits and closure of businesses that violate the restriction. It requires authorization from school administrators for collections, sales, and other economic activities among students. It organizes the territory into school regions, circuits, and zones, and creates a commission to design and evaluate education decentralization. The assessment and corresponding plan would have a deadline of 180 calendar days.

Regional Education Directorates (Direcciones Regionales de Educación) would receive functional, administrative, and budgetary autonomy to implement policies, manage resources, support schools, address staffing and infrastructure needs, and report on their performance. The bill sets their minimum structure and the qualifications for directors and deputy directors. It establishes open competitive selection processes for specified regional positions, regulates their stages and the filling of vacancies, and restricts direct appointments. Finally, it defines school circuits and zones, pedagogical support from supervisors selected through competitive processes, and administrative support units for schools.

The bill concerns the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, the Executive Branch, and the National Assembly. It could be of interest to or affect students and families, teachers and administrators, public and private schools, nonprofit education associations, Indigenous and rural communities, and businesses near schools.