Compulsory education in Panama is composed of two sections – 6 years of primary schooling and 3 years of schooling at a middle school. High school is available for those who want to continue their education, as is university and college and an increasing number of students are taking advantage of the opportunities. The school day varies, depending upon the school, but children can begin at any time between 8 am and 9 am and finish any time between 2 pm and 3 pm.

Education in Panama was elitist until the USA took over the Panama Canal and began to influence matters. The policy prior to this was to offer the best education to those in the higher classes of society. Education became progressive under the US influence and numbers of children enrolling in primary school by the mid 1930s doubled. Levels of illiteracy among adults had been very high but dropped to below 50% in less than 10 years, dropping to less than 28% by the mid 1950s and levels are now less than 8%.

Enrolment in schools continued to increase and high schools and universities saw a huge increase by the mid-1980s and Panama now has an education budget which is roughly 20% of the national expenditure. Government run schools offer free education for the compulsory years of school, and pre-schooling for children aged four and five is also free. Enrolling is usually just a case of making an appointment to see the school and meeting with the head teacher to determine if there is a place. Each school will request a certain amount of documentation and this may include transcripts and reports from former schools and evidence of identification such as a birth certificate or a passport.

In secondary schools children are taught science, maths, different languages and social studies for their compulsory years. In recent years, technology subjects have begun to be taught. Extra-curricular subjects at most schools range from languages to sports, with crafts and dance very popular too. Rural schools may not offer many extra-curricular subjects.

The school year runs from April to December and government schools teach through the medium of Spanish. Most schools will divide the year up into 4 terms, but this does vary. Government-run schools also follow a very similar syllabus for all subjects, so that the standards of education across the country can be monitored. A number of bilingual schools are now in existence in areas where the expat presence is high and there are schools where children can be taught through the mediums of French, Italian and Chinese, as well as Spanish.

Universities and colleges now offer a wide range of diplomas, certificates and bachelor’s degrees and some of the larger universities offer the opportunity to earn a doctorate.

Panama has several ‘Special Education’ schools for those children who have special needs and there are several international and private schools in the larger cities. The cost of private education varies, depending upon the school and the location, but it can be up to around $6000 per year or more. Appointments are required first at the private schools before enrolment can take place, but most have available places. In some cases the websites of the schools will have online enrolment forms that can be completed prior to being invited to look around.

There are both American and British International Schools located in Panama City. The Balboa Academy (in the Clayton district), the Oxford International School (central Panama City) and the Crossroads Christian Academy (the Curundu district) all follow a standard US syllabus. The Oxford School, which can be found in the Edison Park area offers a British syllabus and an international examinations programme. This gives children of expats the chance to earn qualifications which are widely accepted in their home country if they intend to go to university there.

Schools in rural areas are much more basic. Depending upon the number of children they may be just one room and often the numbers of children in each class can be high as it is hard to get teachers to work in remote areas as the facilities are not the greatest. An increasing trend among expats who are living outside the main cities is to home school their children.