Ngobe-Bugle Schools
Current Programs

Please enjoy a brief 6 minute video of the Molejon people taken by Matthew Salton during the 2006 Mona Foundation visit: view video.

Molejon School

This year Quebrada Molejon School educated 73 children, grades 1-6. The most outstanding news of the year is that it is expected by year's end the school will be legally recognized by the Ministry of Education.

The teachers took a course called Escuela Nueva, Escuela Activa (New School, Active School) a curricular strategy designed for multigrade rural classrooms. During the year it was possible to obtain a great many of the texts for this system, some photocopied from texts of nearby schools, and others later donated directly by the Ministry of Education.

The Regional Director of Private Education made a personal visit to the school and met the children and parents. She made a video presentation of her visit to show in Panama City, in an attempt to obtain more support for the school.

The teachers participated in a course called Full Circle, a programme for development of the virtues.

A reading library was begun thanks to the donation of Spanish-language reading books.

This year for the first time school lunches were supplied to the children of the Escuela Quebrada Molejón, mostly thanks to the generous assistance of Mona Foundation, and supplemented with Government foodstuffs.

Soloy Kindergarten

We are pleased to note that in spite of the fact that the Institute Council decided not to continue to work with a number of schools a couple of years ago, the Soloy community has maintained its kindergarten open. Their teacher, Maria Teresa Bejerano, has worked for just a few dollars per month, all the community can manage to collect. We would like to add the Soloy kindergarten to the budget this year, which would require $145 per month for thirteen months, Social Security, administration, and some supplies.

2006 Molejon School

This year the stipends varied due to the fact that the teachers did not get Social Security. At the beginning of the year we deducted the worker's contribution to Social Security. When it became clear that it was not going to be possible to enroll them in the program, we gave them the entire salary without the deduction. Next year there will be a $10 per month increase, which was incorrectly calculated in our Five Year Plan. Each teacher will receive $145 per month. In addition, we give each teacher $50 to purchase the supplies he will need to move to Quebrada Molejón at the beginning of the school year.

This year the teachers have been particularly careful to have a substitute teacher available for times when health or administration requires them to be absent. Nevertheless, they cannot afford to pay these teachers from their own modest salaries. We would like to add $300 to pay for these occasional absences, at the rate of $5 a day.

School Administration

We had a pleasant surprise this year. The Ministry of Education named a new person in charge of private schools, and she was most willing to assist us in getting official recognition. In point of fact, this year we have been warned that if we do not have this recognition, the Ministry will not accept the transcripts of our students. This has resulted in a great deal of additional activity, 12 documents had to be provided including the Fire Department inspection and inspection by the Regional Director, the curricular program, the internal regulations, and other approvals.

Library

We were blessed this year by a wonderful contribution from Mrs. Judy Rector, who is associated with Mona Foundation. She sent several boxes of books for different schools in the area. Additionally, we received an enormous box of official textbooks from the Ministry of Education, as well as two large boxes of texts and teacher guides from Badi School. We still need to buy the bookshelves. Next year we hope to continue to increase the book supply at the school, and plan to buy yet another bookshelf, for $50.

School Supplies

We bought a great many school supplies this year. We painted the school this year, which was especially fortunate because of so many inspections. By far the greatest expense was in photocopying the Escuela Nueva, Escuela Activa texts, since we were unable to obtain the books or guides. Now, at the end of the year, we have obtained more texts. We have some school supplies left over. Next year we should be able to cover the expenses for starting school with $200.

School Lunches

This year Mona Foundation generously added $821 for the school lunch program. The Ministry of Education added some food, but a totally inadequate amount. We are in the process of assuring that next year this entire amount is covered at Government expense. FUNDESCU is also in the process of applying for the construction of a school kitchen. In a recent meeting, the community explained to the Institute Council that a recent windstorm destroyed all their crops, so the school lunch program will be critical this year to the well-being of the community.

In-Service Training

Although we were unable to do all the training we wanted, we were able to have one really good course with the Ministry of Education on the techniques of Escuela Nueva, Escuela Activa, and another mid-year with Niaz Khadem on Full Circle Learning. The first course was attended by ten people, and the second by five. Next year we hope to add to this schedule at least one more course, hopefully in Soloy with the CTLC and another local offering, so the budget for 2007 remains at $930. We are including the teacher from Soloy, and are hoping to train more teachers from Visita Flor and Soloy, where requests have come for further assistance.

Certification of Five Native Teachers

Three years ago five willing souls undertook an amazing goal, to graduate from high school themselves and become certified to teach the children in their remote villages. They have now done it! The Mona Foundation celebrates their success and their devoted efforts.

The Mona Foundation consulted with FUNDESCU to obtain a certification path for these teachers. This required them to complete their high school education. FUNDESCU provided a GED certification program and the Mona Foundation has contributed $9,000 a year for three years to provide the courses. There have been several paths to this education. Some classes have been held at the SOLOY Computer Center. Several two-week training Program trips have been provided as well for math, science, and computer training. For the past year, the teachers would teach all week in their village classes and then hike down the mountain for long hours on Saturday mornings to complete GED classes all day every saturday. The teachers would do their homework during the week and return again every week to take courses. This path of study earned each one a high school graduation and also fulfilled the original government requirements for teacher certification.

Now the goverment has reassessed the school needs and upgraded the standard for teachers. These teachers will next embark on two years of college to continue their certification requirements. For the full story and ongoing developments of this amazing project, please see the Ngabe Bukle Universidad section of this website.

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