Curriculum model of Panamá

 Presented by Steeven Pérez

“Panama's education system is made up of two subsystems: regular and non-regular. Both offer formal and non-formal education. The regular subsystem is organized around preschool education, primary education, pre-secondary education, secondary education (academic secondary and technical professional secondary) and higher education (post-secondary, non-university and university)” (Inec, 2019)

The non-regular education subsystem is aimed at providing education to boys, girls, adolescents, youth and adults who, due to various circumstances and characteristics, were not incorporated into the regular education system. The non-regular education system is made up of permanent education for young people and adults, special education and initial education.

The permanent education of young people and adults is aimed at people over 15 years of age with unfinished schooling.

Special education is aimed at children, young people and adults who live with disabilities and who, due to their situation, cannot be incorporated into the regular education system.

This curriculum includes the following levels:

First Level or General Basic Education: It lasts eleven years, is compulsory and free. It is general, because it responds to a concept of broad culture, both in the scientific and in the humanistic aspects; and it is basic because it provides essential training that every citizen must have for the acquisition of superior knowledge and its correct integration into more general social processes.

·         Preschool Education: It is taught to children under six (6) years of age in kindergartens, nurseries and child guidance centers. Its purpose is to stimulate in the student the growth and development of their physical, emotional and mental capacities.

·         Primary Education: Includes ages between six (6) and eleven years. Primary education will favor and direct the integral development of the student; will continue to guide the formation of your personality.

·         Premedia Education: It is the final stage of General Basic Education. It develops in students whose ages range between twelve (12) and fifteen (15) years. It will continue and deepen the integral formation of the student, with a long period of exploration and vocational guidance of his interests and abilities.

Second Level or Middle Education: It is the one that follows General Basic Education and precedes higher education. Its objective is to continue the cultural formation of the student and offer him a solid formation in specific options, in order to prepare him for productive work, which facilitates his entry into the labor field and to continue higher studies. It lasts for three years and is free and diversified.

·         General Education: It is that education that does not have the purpose of directly preparing students for a specific trade or profession, but to continue further studies. It includes the following modalities: sciences, letters and computer science.

·         Pedagogical Teaching: Its purpose is to directly prepare students for the exercise of the teaching profession in primary education. It consists of three (3) years of duration, and it is an essential requirement to have the first cycle certificate.

·         Vocational and Technical Education: Its purpose is to directly prepare students for a trade or profession, which is not be the teacher. It consists of a basic cycle of vocational orientation of two (2) years duration or first level, which requires the possession of a certificate of completion of primary studies.

Career and technical education offer the following specialties: agricultural, business, home and garment industries, home education, nautical and others.

Third Level or Higher Education: It is taught in universities and other study centers where it is required as a minimum condition to have successfully completed secondary education.

Supplementary Education: Includes courses in artistic education, languages, vocational (beauty, confectionery, etc.) and others of less than three (3) years duration. May include students attending other regular education schools.

Bibliography

Inec. (2019). Ministerio de Educación. Obtenido de https://www.inec.gob.pa/Archivos/P1231Organizacion.pdf