education

Ministers not lasting long

With the resignation of Belgis Castro, there have now been four ministers in as many years.

If you want a long career in government, it is probably best to avoid the job of Ministro de Educación.

With this week's resignation of Belgis Castro, there have now been three ministers in that post, each lasting a little more than a year.

Castro resigned under a rising tide of dissatisfaction from students, administrators, teachers and parents, in short just about anybody connected to the education system.

Castro came under fire shortly after assuming the post in August 2007. A short time later he faced his first crisis when widespread fraud was discovered in the Fondo de Equidad y Calidad de la Educación, a program meant to improve the condition of the country's schools.

When the school year started and dozens of schools remained closed because of unfinished renovations, students took to the streets to protest.

Castro, though, is not the first of President Martín Torrijos´education ministers to resign under pressure.

Juan Bosco Bernal, a college professor and vice rector of the Universidad Especializada de Las Américas was Torrijos' first minister. While Bernal brought a wealth of experience to the job, he lasted but a few months, replaced in September 2005 by Miguel Angel Cañizales.

After less than a year on the job, however, Angel Cañizales, also a respected university-level administrator, faced his first crisis, a teacher's strike.

Although the strike lasted less than a month, it was enough to cost him his job. He was replaced by Castro in 2007.

The latest person in the hot seat will be Doris Rosa de Matta, who was also education minister under Mireya Moscoso.

Whether she fares better than her predecessors remains to be seen, but recent history shows that she will have little time to make changes.