Panama Education Conference
La Educatión: Un Camino Hacia La Equidad Social
Education: The Road Towards Social Equality
Panama City: July 4, 2000

Sponsors:
Global Academy Institute for Integrative Education
In cooperation with:
Foreign Ministry of Panama 
Education Ministry of Panama
United Nations Development Program, 
UNESCO

The Panamanian Government and UNDP invited the Global Academy to help design and create a conference for the 2000 Ibero-American Summit of Governments in Panama. Together with the UN, the government of Panama, and the Summit Secretariat, the Global Academy convened a public conference titled, "A Road Towards Social Equality," which was one of the summit's key themes.

Speakers:
Doris Rosas de Mata, Minister of Education, Panama
Roberto Eisenmann, founder of La Prensa and MiBanco, special advisor to the president of Panama, and leader of the National Education Consensus Process
Miguel Guilarte, Ph.D., associate dean and faculty, Human and Organizational Development Program, Fielding Institute 
JoAnne Kleifgen, Ph.D., associate professor of linguistics and education, Teachers College, Columbia University 
Paula Perez, attorney, Education Red International, Argentina
Vilma Guimaraes, Global TV and the Roberto Marinho Foundation, Brazil.
Diane Richler, Inclusion Interamericana, Canada
Alfredo Otero, MiBanco, Panama.

Panama contains a high level of diversity in a relatively small country. Language, multiculturalism, economics, social class and the ability to integrate into the global economy are issues that impact education policy. The Panamanian government’s objective for this conference was to assemble government officials, members of the intelligentsia, University of Panama staff, and principals from both high schools and elementary schools in order discuss the issues affecting the future of education in Panama and to formulate a plan to address these issues. 

In his introduction, Roberto Eisenmann, presidential advisor and leader of the National Education Consensus Process, stated that education is the highest priority in society, and a conference of this type allowed Panamanians to dream and to think. Education Minister Doris Rosas de Mata stressed the importance of exploring and discussing advanced issues of education, sustainable education, and education’s impact on social equality. 

The conference successfully created a space where people from differing viewpoints could talk to each other about how Panama could forge its own policies to develop an education system that would assist Panama’s integration into the world economy. One of the main issues concerning this goal was how to incorporate computer education into schools. 

Another issue debated by conference attendees was how to implement the structural growth of technology within Panama. One side of the argument favored seeking international aid as well as increasing local taxes to raise the funds to give away computers. Opponents argued that giving away computers was a misuse of funds if people were not educated on how to use them. 

This successful conference initiated the public launch of a national education reconciliation project in which the government, unions, and teachers of Panama will consider how to reengineer and modernize the country's educational system.

PROGRAM

Session 1
The Use of Technology in All Levels of Education
Miguel Guilarte, Fielding Institute, U.S.A.
Internet: A Tool to Improve the Quality of Education
Jo Anne Kliefgen, Columbia University, U.S.A.
Education Red International – Telecommunications as Part of the Education Process
Paula Perez, Education Red International, Argentina

Session 2
The Role of the Communications Media in Education
Vilma Guimaraes, Globo TV and Roberto Marinho Foundation, Brazil
Inclusive Education: A Topic of Human Rights
Diane Richler, Inclusion Interamerica, Canada
Education and Microcredit
Alfredo Otero, MiBanco, Panama

Biographies of Speakers:
Roberto Eisenmann is both founding editor and former publisher of La Prensa, a leading Panamanian newspaper and MiBanco, Panama's leading micro-credit institution. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Neiman Fellow at Harvard, Mr. Eisenmann is a successful businessman and banker. He left the paper he founded in 1995, but still writes articles for it. He is president of Transparency International for Panama and chairman of the board of the Latin American Center for Journalism (CELAP).  Mr. Eisenmann is a special advisor to the president of Panama and leads the National Education Consensus Process.
Miguel Guilarte, Ph.D., is associate dean and faculty of the Human and Organizational Development Program at the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Professor Guilarte has conducted research in the areas of coalition building, competitive and cooperative dynamics, envy, jealousy, and social comparison. He has been interested in examining the importance of boundaries, tasks, roles, and authority in the ways the new Internet technology reshapes the capacity to do effective work and learning.
Vilma Guimaraes is with Global TV and the Roberto Marinho Foundation in Brazil.
JoAnne Kleifgen, Ph.D., is associate professor of linguistics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Professor Keifgen is currently involved in research that addresses the digital divide in communities with an ethno-linguistically diverse, low-income population and a growing, but still limited technology infrastructure.
Alfredo Otero is with MiBanco, Panama's leading micro-credit institution.  MiBanco provides extensive educational support and provides loans for the poor to create business, which in turn creates a base for education, healthcare, and material security.
Paula Perez is an attorney and educator who directs Education Red International in Argentina.
Diane Richler is with Inclusion Interamericana, Canada (top)