education

70 schools vandalized

Levi Cruz/LA PRENSA

hard knocks: Education officials are beset with incidents of theft and vandalism in campuses throughout Panama City, Colón and the country’s western provinces. Last weekend, during the vacation break, classrooms at a school in Chepo were set on fire.1072887

Vandalism and theft in public schools continues to be a problem facing educational authorities, said Viceministra de Educación Mirna de Crespo, following a reports that around 70 campuses had been damaged or robbed during the current school year.

Crespo admitted that the Ministerio de Educación (Meduca) does not have an accurate record of damaged or stolen items because many of them were donated or were considered too insignificant to warrant keeping tally of.

Also, many thefts and damage goes unreported to Meduca because losses less than $200 are reported to city authorities, who may not alert Meduca about the outcome of an investigation for weeks or months.

Taking advantage of lax penalties, vandals often seek to do the most damage possible: breaking windows, ripping toilets from bathroom stalls and even smearing excrement on walls.

Last weekend, parents of students of a school in Tortí, in the district of Chepo, claimed that delinquents broke in and, after stealing some of the classroom and office furniture, set fire to a classroom, damaging the students’ schoolwork.

Nivia Rossana Castrellón, president of the Unión Nacional de Colegios Particulares, said that schools are particularly vulnerable to thieves and vandals over holidays and vacation periods.

“During the holidays, the public campuses are vacated, and without the administrative staff watching over them, criminals take everything,” she said.

This isn’t the case in private schools where they employ private security officers, said Castrellón, who added that such incidents happen less at campuses where students live in the same community where they attend school.

Although exact figures are unknown, Viceministra Crespo said the incidence of theft and vandalism at public schools is highest in the province of Colón, followed by campuses in the western regions of the country.

There are nearly no reports of this kind at schools in the provinces of Herrera, Los Santos and Coclé, she added.

“It's as if people in the interior of the country have a different attitude regarding the things that benefit them, such as schools,” Crespo said.

Last year, when school vandalism worsened across the country, Meduca authorities considered installing motion-sensitive surveillance cameras. The idea was for the cameras to be connected to the Policía Nacional. But the cost of the proposed security system exceeded Meduca’s budget.

Since then, police have organized a kind of neighborhood watch in the communities whose campuses are frequently targeted. There is no information on the effectiveness of that program.