Project Educacion Si Update

Educacion Si is a plan to create and utilize an e-education concept to connect all schools in Panama to a centralized electronic library. No matter how remote they would be connected. This e-library would contain educational materials, specific Indigenous cultural videos, and video lectures by Panamanian experts in all fields. Each school would receive these streaming videos via broadband wireless Internet.

The Scientific Coordinator for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) recently arranged for me to have a meeting at STRI with the Minister of Technical Environmental Education for Panama, Senora Otilia Arroya. We discussed the lack of educational materials in the main schools and especially in the more remote outer island and mountain schools. These remote schools are primarily Indigenous Ngobe, Bugle, and Naso peoples, and just having enough updated textbooks is difficult to achieve. The thought of a library or computers for these schools is not in the current realm of reality for the educational system.

Senora Arroya's special area of concern is the lack of environmental conservation education. We discussed how this project could change all of that by providing a wide range of youth-engaging educational programs, which could be tailored to specific regions. After having reviewed the Educacion Si concept and the steps we (SBT) had already taken to promote this project, she asked for a full project package and promised she would present it to the Minister of Education. We are waiting for her reply.

Related to this post, we have found a U.S. based organization that can supply us with refurbished computers for $25 each. We have also stayed in contact with Intel (who is the technical backbone of this concept) and hope to provide a contact with the Panamanian government soon.