opulation. School attendance was good for children from ages six through fifteen years, or until the completion of primary school. A six-year primary cycle was followed by two types of secondary school programs: an academic-oriented program and a vocational-type program. In addition to the academic program, there was a vocational type secondary-school program that offered professional or technical courses aimed specifically at giving students the technical skills needed for employment following graduation. In the mid-1980s, nearly one-quarter of all secondary students chose this type of course. Like the more academic-oriented secondaryschool program, the vocational-type program was divided into two cycles. Students could choose their studies from a variety of specializations, including agriculture, art, commerce, and industrial trades. Admission to the university normally required the bachillerato (graduation certificate or baccalaureate), awarded on completion of the upper part of the academic course of studies, although the University of Panama had some latitude in determining admissions standards. The bachillerato was generally considered an essential component of middle-class status. Public secondary schools that offered the baccalaureate degree also offered the lower cycle. They were generally located in provincial capital cities. The oldest, largest, and most highly regarded of these was the National Institute in Panama City. The University of Panama grew out of it, and the school had produced so many public figures that it was known as the Nest of Eagles. It tended to draw its student body from upwardly mobile rather than long-established elements of the elite. Its students were well known for their political activism. Another college, the Colegio del Istmo, was started early in the nineteenth century, but the school did not prosper, and Panamanians who wished to pursue a higher education were required to go abroad or to Colombi...
