WHILE President Juan Carlos Varela  made a predictable apple pie TV address to Panama students on the eve of their   return to school,  there  are hundreds who , however attentively they listened to his homily on working hard to get results, will not be able follow his advice in   the early days of the 2016 school year, because   their classrooms, or even buildings are not ready.

Minister of Education Marcela Paredes de Vasquez  pitched in with a call for individuals to treat school buildings with respect. She said the ministry worked hard to ensure that 95 percent of campuses were ready for the opening of school.

The problems include the failure to deliver furniture to some schools and confusion over staffing.

At a school in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, the structure was renovated, but it has not received chairs, desks and blackboards.

At the Fermin Naudeau Institute, in La Locería, minor repairs were carried out and the school was painted, but questions have now been raised because the government may not have the title to land where the building is located, which prevented needed major repairs from being made because the situation is not yet resolved.

In  his  message to the nation  Varela said that the government has made "a great effort" to make sure the schools are in the best possible condition.

In many schools the effort was aided by volunteer parents who pitched in to  help make sure the doors would open on time.

Varela  added that resources are being invested to launch programs and reforms that will ensure students receive a quality education. He didn’t dwell on  the volunteers, a parental version of the victims of  Wackford Squeers's Academy, Dotheboys Hall, where verbs were taught by “doing,” as  portayed by Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby,

There are some 3,000 Ministry of Education schools serving 600,000 students, but 44 are not yet ready.

The situation reflects the continuing widening of the gap between the have’s and have nots. The former with the deepest pockets can send their children elsewhere to be educated, while the ones with pockets a little shallower, can ensure a decent education or something approaching it, depending on the fees, by sending their offspring to a private school.

Even among those parents there are concerns about  escalating fees without early notification.