Cobre Panama and allied organizations reaffirm their commitment to education in Panama

– 70 schools are part of the Integral Schools Project.
– 3,200 elementary, pre-middle, middle and high school and university scholarships awarded, of which more than 60% of the beneficiaries are women.
– US$ 16.8 million is the accumulated investment made by Cobre Panama in education alone.

Penonomé, August 15, 2023 – With a clear objective and collective interest in strengthening education in the country, Cobre Panama and allied organizations FUNDESTEAM, UDELLPA, COSPAE, FUDIS and Nutre Hogar announced the extension of their strategic alliance of collaboration for the welfare of students, specifically in the communities neighboring the districts of Omar Torrijos, Donoso and La Pintada, in the provinces of Colón and Coclé, respectively.

For Cobre Panama, these alliances, with tangible results in their execution, have represented a continuous cooperation in education, human development and sustainability in the communities neighboring the project, allowing them to assume clear and timely commitments in the face of the challenges presented by these regions of the country.

“Today is the best manifestation of the joint effort between Cobre Panama, non-governmental organizations, local governments and, of course, the national government. Today through a joint effort we see the fruit through young people developing in the arts, in culture, in their education and in the general development of the whole area of Coclesito, La Pintada, Donoso, what is now known as the General Omar Torrijos Herrera District, actually seeing the development in this sector evolve is a source of great satisfaction”, said Julio Palacios, Governor of the Province of Cocle.

“What we have done is the renewal of our education program, starting with primary education, with Nutre Hogar, continuing with COSPAE, with the education of university scholarships, and high school and elementary school scholarships; FUDIS, with our comprehensive schools program, UDELLPA, also part of university education and the last one of STEAM, which is Science, Technology, Arts and Mathematics. It is worth mentioning that we are one of the sponsors of the robotics olympics program that will be held here in Panama in November 2023. More than 6,000 young people, from kindergarten to university, benefit every year in a central area of Panama, which is another important value of the Cobre Panama project. It is to be able to have the opportunity to make an impact from the time you are born until you graduate and work for Cobre Panama,” said Alberto Casas, Cobre Panama’s Director of Community Affairs.

For her part, Vanessa Vicuña, executive director of Nutre Hogar, said: “For Nutre Hogar it is a day of great blessing for early childhood, it has been 13 years working with a strategic partner like Cobre Panama, which believes in early childhood in Panama. Nutre Hogar has grown in these 13 years, we are a much more professional organization, it has helped us to train and do our work much better. We are very happy and we hope to continue working together to have children with the necessary skills and abilities so that when they attend their first grade and enter formal school, they already have all those neurological and stimulation abilities and are ready for all the learning process that awaits them in the future years.

“13 years working with Cobre Panama, a responsible ally in the sustainable development of the communities, in taking care of the social and economic impact in the communities and more than anything else in the lives of the people. There are many years of work ahead, of continuing to collaborate with education in Panama, through sustainability practices that basically promote sustainable production, a healthy and balanced diet for students, environmental education, clean water and sanitation in schools, among other goals we have to ensure that children’s learning really takes place in adequate conditions,” said Armando Espino, executive director of the Foundation for Integral Sustainable Development (FUDIS).

For Carmen Sealy de Broce, president of the Private Sector Council for Educational Assistance (COSPAE), “Cobre Panama has had a scholarship program and when we talk about a scholarship program it makes sense what they are doing. Students who are good students are identified and accompanied, because COSPAE’s job is to administer those scholarships, but also to accompany the students and their parents so that they stay on scholarship, so that they maintain their grades, to help them in everything, so that the program is successful in the end and that is why we have been able to advance in 12 years. It is not only the technical training, it is that integral training. Almost 3,400 scholarships have been awarded; 200 have been awarded in university and 59% are women, which is much more pride, we are talking about gender equity. This is what is resulting, it is the product of the community”.

Ana Mercedes Alvarez Franco, rector of the Universidad de Los Llanos del Pacífico (UDELLPA) said: “The importance of this alliance with Cobre Panama is to give young people living near the mine area the opportunity to be educated with high quality standards as offered by our institution. In addition, Cobre Panama has supported our International Poetry Festival, which also highlights culture and the arts, therefore, I believe in this agreement as an integral effort between both parties, for the progress of students and the community. We are the first university born in the central provinces and Cocle and we appreciate the trust they have placed in us to train people from right here”.

The project “Robotics for social mobility”, is a project that consists of promoting the practical approach of STEAM that will enable more than 3,000 students from 61 schools to learn through this STEAM approach what it is to solve problems in their community through technology tools and to do so through tools such as Design Thinking, robotic learning, programming. There will be 61 educational centers in the districts of Donoso and Omar Torrijos. We will train 191 teachers in a STEAM diploma course and the scope is to reach all the communities in this area and to empower students who will participate in the local, regional and national olympics and also prepare for the world olympics. The most important thing about this is that they will be prepared during these 4 years that are part of the legacy plan,” said Jackeline Salazar, coordinator of alliances and sponsorships of the National Foundation for the Development of STEAM (FUNDESTEAM).

Ricky Mendoza, resident of San Antonio, La Pintada, Cobre Panama collaborator and graduate of the scholarship program said: “It has been very rewarding and today I can testify to that. I joined Minera Panamá’s scholarship program in 2011. It has been more than 8 years, since I was in 5th grade I had the opportunity to apply to this program and thank God I was a beneficiary. The scholarship program has helped each one of us as young people, because not only did they give you a check so you could continue with your studies, but they also gave us training and motivational talks. Through the effort you put in, you gain new positions and through the company’s commitment to young people like us to train and develop ourselves within the company as professionals. I call on young people to take advantage of the opportunities that are given to them today, to make an effort, to study, because that is the only thing that will remain for each one of us”, he added.

The social and educational initiatives developed by Cobre Panama, through its programs and strategic allies, reaffirm the company’s commitment to the country, also making tangible its contribution to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG #4 Quality Education, SDG #10 Reducing Inequalities, SDG #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG #17 Partnerships to Achieve the Goals.