- Expanding access to early childhood care remains a major challenge in Panama.
- With support from the IDB, Panama is adopting a more comprehensive approach to childcade by integrating families, communities, and institutions, and by establishing clear quality standards across eight key dimensions to improve services systematically.
- Evidence about this approach shows that improving both coverage and quality of childcare services leads to measurable gains in children’s development.
Having access to quality childcare spaces is key for the development of both families and children: these services enable parents to work or study while children receive the care and stimulation that support their development.
However, in Panama, access to early childhood care and education services for children under five remains limited: only 22% are enrolled, with a particularly large gap among children aged 0 to 2, whose coverage is below 1%. In practice, care falls mainly on families, and especially on mothers. Three out of four children under five are cared for by them, and in Indigenous regions—where poverty levels are highest—this share exceeds 90%. Among children aged 4 and 5 in the Ngäbe Buglé and Guna Yala regions, coverage reaches 32.7% and 42.3%, respectively, compared to 67.2% at the national level, according to our own calculations based on government data.
In response to this situation, Panama has been advancing toward a model of care for young children with a comprehensive, quality-centered approach through the Early Childhood Comprehensive Care Centers (CAIPI). This policy, led by the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), aims to expand access and improve service quality.
CAIPI centers serve children from the first months of life up to age four. Today, MIDES Panama operates 95 centers, 55 of which were built, renovated, or equipped with IDB support, serving around 2,600 children.
What sets these centers apart is not only their coverage, but their guiding approach: CAIPI are not just “daycare centers.” In these spaces, care is understood as a shared process involving families, communities, and different state institutions. This approach translates into concrete actions: families do not simply “drop off” their children, but actively participate by receiving guidance on parenting practices and support to foster their children’s development.
Advancing toward this model also required defining what it means, in practice, to provide quality care.
In 2018, Panama conducted an assessment of the structural and process quality of CAIPI centers using standardized instruments. The results showed that average quality was moderate and that improvements were needed in infrastructure and equipment, staff training, interactions with children, and internal management, as well as the creation of a system to measure quality systematically.
Based on this diagnosis, the country established quality standards structured across eight dimensions:
- Health and Well-Being
- Nutrition
- Pedagogical Processes and Practices and Meaningful Relationships and Interactions
- Human Talent Management and Training
- Spaces and Environments
- Collaborative Relationships with Families
- Institutional and Community Support Networks
- Leadership and Administrative Processes
Each dimension includes specific standards, indicators, and concrete means of verification. For example, it is not enough for a center to provide meals. It must ensure proper implementation conditions: how food is stored, whether it meets nutritional standards, and whether staff handling food are certified. Compliance with these standards is systematically observed, recorded, and validated.
The implementation of these standards is gradual and supported by a system of periodic supervision. Evaluations are conducted quarterly and generate concrete feedback for each center. When a CAIPI does not meet a standard, improvement plans are activated with technical support from MIDES.
For several years, this process was also linked to a results-based payment scheme: meeting standards unlocked financial incentives that centers could use for improvements, educational materials, or maintenance.
Evidence shows that expanding both coverage and quality of childcare has tangible effects on children’s development. In this regard, an impact evaluation conducted by MIDES, with technical and financial support from the IDB, currently in the publication process, finds that attendance at a CAIPI center significantly improved language development, including gains in vocabulary and verbal comprehension.
These findings reinforce a key lesson for the region: expanding access to childcare services is important, but improving their quality is decisive for generating sustained impacts on the lives of children and their families.
We invite you to learn more about Panama’s experience in this video: Early Childhood Comprehensive Care Centers (CAIPI) in Panama. You can also download the publication detailing the quality evaluation results: Improving Center-Based Child Care in Panama: Baseline Results.