The Dominican government and its Ministry of Education assure that the country is better prepared for the school year that is about to begin. Angel Hernandez, Minister of Education, assured the public that a lot of work and money has been invested to make the course run smoothly.
The President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, joined the institutional optimism, recognizing the will of his government to make the new course a starting point for a gradual but sustained change in education in the country. This will be achieved through the expansion of services that improve the quality of life of students. In this sense, he informed that the food for the students is guaranteed from the first day of school, which was not the case in previous years.
Ancell Scheker, Vice-Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Affairs, announced other projects that will be implemented starting in September, among them the “2023 Summer School”, which will provide a framework for the analysis of the new methods and study programs that have been implemented. He specified that the curricular adjustments made at the different levels of education will be analyzed.
Another novelty will be the expansion of coverage and the improvement of the quality of learning in the second cycle of the initial level, from three to five years of age. He specified that in order to achieve this goal, new classrooms were built and 10 thousand children of those ages are expected to enter.
The tweet reads, "President Luis Abinader led the presentation of the report on the progress of the 2023-2024 school year, which brings innovations for the Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary curriculum, the evaluation system and new learning resources."
Among the new measures, the minister said that the school transport service will be expanded in Santo Domingo, where 700 buses will be rented to provide the service. The deputy minister also referred to the rehabilitation of some 1,220 schools in order to ensure the education of the student population.
He announced that the Psycho-emotional Care Center (CAPEM, Spanish acronym) will be inaugurated in September, a support network to provide assistance and response to psychoactive and psycho-pedagogical situations in the community.
Meanwhile, the government continues to provide each student with a kit consisting of a backpack, a uniform, a pair of shoes, notebooks and pencils.
This year, at the end of August, parents of schoolchildren will have a voucher for one thousand Dominican pesos (about $20) for each student in the family of the enrolled child, with the aim of affecting the families' budget as little as possible.
Education in the Dominican Republic is free and compulsory at the initial and basic levels, secondary education is not compulsory but is still free. Higher education also has state funding. There are also private education centers at all levels in the country.
Among the main problems of education in the Dominican Republic is the high levels of repetition, overage and dropout. Repetition rate occurs especially in poor neighborhoods where the boys cannot pass the subjects or the level passing exams.