700 public schools reopen following 7.5 quake

Students in 770 public schools in Panama resumed classes on Wednesday, October 21, following the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on October 9, but in the central provinces, the doors remain closed.

619 schools suffered damage, and 35 were destroyed or unusable.

More than 3,000 children are without a classroom just a month and a half before the end of the school year, in a system that had already suffered almost 500 days of losses in face-to-face classes following the pandemic crisis and the teachers’ protests of recent years.

Students in 770 public schools in Panama resumed classes on Wednesday, October 21, following the 7.5-magnitude earthquake on October 9, but in the central provinces, the doors remain closed.

619 schools suffered damage, and 35 were destroyed or unusable.

More than 3,000 children are without a classroom just a month and a half before the end of the school year, in a system that had already suffered almost 500 days of losses in face-to-face classes following the pandemic crisis and the teachers’ protests of recent years.