What age should children go to school in Panama?
Initial education, according to experts, is decisive for the social and cognitive development of children. However, when compulsory initial education is mentioned, a question arises: What age does it start?
What age should children go to school in Panama?
Within the territory of Panama, initial education is divided into two stages:
- Preschool 1(Parvularia 1): This stage includes children up to two years of age.
- Preschool 2 (Parvularia 2): While in this stage the age range is from two to three years
When does compulsory preschool education start?
School education in Panama is oriented towards children aged four and five. So, while initial education is part of a non-regularized education subsystem; Preschool is the kickoff of basic education.
Around this, kindergarten has become mandatory in Panama and has led the country’s Ministry of Education to regularize all educational establishments that offer this modality.
The challenge of fulfilling children’s rights
In the year 1947, the Republic of Panama under Law 47, organic education, has established the compulsory education of preschool education. However, this form of education is not fulfilled.
In Panama, children’s attendance at the obligatory initial circuit is around 60%. This hard data, which is really sad and is well below the average for the Latin American region, has a reason.
However, the lack of initial schooling for children has little to do with parents who take away their interest in this decisive moment for children. This problem has its foundations in years of decision and investment for the construction of new public and private schools.
How has the attendance of children in preschool evolved in recent years?
In recent decades, many specialists around the world have begun to convey a message that, little by little, aroused the interest of parents: “Early education is totally relevant for the growth of children.”
The experts’ message has been heard by all stakeholders and the result has been remarkable: The growth in school attendance rates of children of that age has been exponential. For example, out of 100% of vacancies available within the 2005/2010 period, attendance had increased by 10%.
While in 2013, 84% of children already met the threshold of vacancies available in the initial and compulsory education system.
Based on this remarkable growth that has been taking place in the educational world, investment becomes imperative.
Why is early education so important?
Both kindergarten and preschool have a role that has become transcendental for children. That is why preschool educators, classroom assistants and technicians play a very important role. Why?
- They are the ones who develop and allow a correct cognitive development.
- They allow rapid psychomotor and socio-emotional evolution.
- They allow them to obtain a remarkable balance between containment and autonomy especially when they are in a place unknown to them.
These three points are just some of the many benefits that children get in kindergarten. From there also lies the importance for them of educators that, as we can see, encompasses much more than a transmission of information.
