CAF and the Instituto Técnico Superior del Este "ITSE" promote higher technical education in Panama

In recent years Panama has opted to fortify and develop the education sector, especially higher education. Given this premise and with the aim of continuing to promote human talent training, which will help the Central American country to be more competitive and resilient, CAF Development Bank of Latin America, the Higher Technical Institute of the East (ITSE) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, carried out an institutional and environmental technical evaluation of the "Implementation of the Specialized Higher Technical Institute – ITSE Phase II" project (to cost USD 75 million) between April 19 and 21 at the higher studies campus.

The meeting between the two parties included a tour of the educational facilities, led by Christian Asinelli, CAF's Corporate Vice President of Strategic Programming, who expressed the institution's commitment to improving the lives of all Panamanians through education, and in turn affirmed that these approaches strengthen the links between professional training and specialized labor demands that the country requires.

In the opinion of Vice President Christian Asinelli: "the ITSE is a benchmark educational institution for the region and the world, which as a top-level campus seeks to meet training needs in strategic sectors with appropriate and quality services in the field of higher technical education for Panama".

Milena Gómez Cedeño, Educational Manager of ITSE, said that "it is important to have a strategic plan for this second phase that sets out the indicators and direction for the investment, which lets the institute's team rethink things toward a more dynamic and applicable model, this time creating capacities to build in science, technology and innovation".

"In that regard, the second phase considers ITSE equipment, rethinking academic services and other projects that will provide great opportunities to our students, such as a residence for those living in the interior of the country, including international students," said Gómez Cedeño.

In her speech, CAF education expert Bibiam Díaz reiterated "the bank's commitment to continue accompanying the ITSE, as was done in the first phase of the project, as well as the recent technical assistance in designing the new School of Innovation and Digital Environments, as well as formulation of the first ITSE Strategic Plan 2022-2025, which is in the final phase".

The first stage of the ITSE project made it possible to offer 53% for the academic activities, inclusion of 20% of the students who are currently in training and 17% toward technological equipment.

CAF's strategic agendas and actions in Panama and their relationship to the new ITSE’s strategic vision were reviewed during the working groups. The project’s components, institutional aspects of the ITSE, implementation scheme and socio-environmental aspects were also examined.

It should be noted that the ITSE began its academic activities in 2019 and to date has 930 students enrolled in its academic reinforcement programs and in 9 higher technical programs, of which 74 will graduate in 2022.