Members of various teachers’ unions continue to demonstrate in various parts of the country to demand that the government take urgent measures against the rise in fuel prices and the high cost of living in Panama.
The Association of Educators of Veragüenses (AEVE), one of the unemployed teachers’ organizations, denounced that said increase generates a domino effect on other areas, such as the basic basket, the use of public transport, the cost of medicines, and a series of human rights vulnerabilities, spoke from the provincial capital.
Luis Sánchez, general secretary of AEVE, revealed that on Tuesday afternoon, in the midst of the demonstrations, police units detained almost 19 educators in the province of Herrera, who were released hours later.
When asked about the effects that this measure causes to students, he excused himself by arguing that the government is responsible for the damage it has caused to the educational system.
“The blow to the students was already done before 2019, there was a big blow, only the people had not realized it. We have statistical data of the damage that education in Panama already had and we told the authorities that they had to make changes in the educational system. In 2020 the blow was much more because the government authorities never wanted to invest in the distance education of our students; here so many millions of dollars were used to use them on digital platforms that were not accessible to more than 80% of the students, students who at the time, parents were fired from their jobs and we educators had to do wonders. The damage has already been done by the government and the government has been damaging the educational system for five years ago “, he remarked.
He stressed that in addition to protesting the high cost of living, there are teachers who have not been paid, schools that are in ruins and have been protested since the beginning of the school year and there has been no investment in the best educational centers.
A high-level working table is planned for this Wednesday in which the leaders of teachers’ unions and the government will participate.
The dialogue table that will be installed in the city of Santiago, province of Veraguas, and will be chaired by the Minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, and will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ombudsman del Pueblo, the Free Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (Acodeco) and other entities.
