For tomorrow, Thursday, the teachers’ unions that remain in a work stoppage at the national level will meet with the government authorities, in the province of Veraguas, to discuss the demands presented by educators in terms of the high cost of living and of the fuel.
The Minister of Education of Panama (Meduca), Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, received a letter from the unions grouped in the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People, where they demanded a meeting not only with the Meduca, but also with senior officials of the government that can give concrete answers to their requests.
“With the respect that the Minister of Education deserves, this is not a merely educational issue, yes, we are the teachers who are in the fight, but this is a social fight and one of the whole country,” said Juan Ramón Herrera, spokesman for all guilds.
Herrera warned that, although tomorrow they will sit down to talk, the pressure measures such as the indefinite strike and the protests will not cease.
“There is no uprising until the government gives an answer,” he specified.
For her part, the minister reiterated the call for dialogue with educators and assured that a high-level team will assist teachers to reach agreements and understandings so that the demonstrations are peaceful and without affecting third parties.
“We appeal to remain calm, that the protests do not interfere with third parties, I think that is the most important thing; and well, as the Ministry of Education, it will be up to us later to organize the recovery of days,” added the head of Meduca.
On the morning of this Wednesday, July 6, in various areas of the country, other organizations joined the protests.
In Azuero, school bus drivers, freight carriers and civil society carried out a massive closure.