Amarante Baret: the country moves towards an exemplary and paradigmatic public education system

Amarante Baret: the country moves towards an exemplary and paradigmatic public education system
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 15/04/2014

The Minister of Education, Mr. Carlos Amarante Baret, said that with the recently signed Education Pact, it is hoped that there will be quality education in public schools is the case in the developed countries.

While delivering some remarks at the World STEM conference, organized by Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), which the members of the Education Pact, other entities involved in the sector, and experts in the teaching method attended, Amarante Baret stressed that progress is being made in the country towards the creation of a public education system that is exemplary and paradigmatic, so that the system becomes more appreciated by the people, and that he trusts that that time will come.

“Enough is enough. You have to put a limit on the gap between a very small group of Dominicans, who, because of their economic and social status, have access to a first-class education, and the vast majority of the student population, from the lower middle or the poor classes, who have a second-rate education”, he said.

The Minister of Education said that the initiative to present the STEM World education system in the country was brought up by Dr. Leonel Fernández, former President of the Republic and President of FUNGLODE, to whom he expressed his appreciation.

“From the Ministry we welcomed this initiative of President Fernández, and, in this regard, we believe that it is timely because it comes at the right moment, at the right time when we are immersed in what we have called “a revolution in education”, which implies changes across the board in our system,” he said. And he added:
“We just finished signing a pact for quality education for all in the Dominican Republic, and one of these agreements we reached in this pact has to do precisely with making all the necessary changes in terms of our curriculum, in terms of the content that we should teach to both our teachers and our students, and we agreed also on everything that has to do with raising the quality of education in the country.”
The STEM World conference was organized with the purpose that the Minister of Education and other members of the Pact for Quality in Education be acquainted in detail with what the methodology (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is all about. This methodology is widely used in the United States and in some Latin American countries, as a proposal for supporting the learning processes of the students and for ensuring that knowledge serves as a tool for academic and personal growth.

Amarante Baret stressed that this system has shown that it is feasible and successful, and that it produces results in terms of teaching and mastering the scientific methodology in order to make better use of the contents for the development of a person, from his/her childhood until s/he enters the University.
“It is evident, therefore, that their experiences will be useful to us”, said the official. He added that he will seek to implement this methodology among specialists in the teaching method and the authorities of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, to continue with the process of bolstering quality in the Dominican education system.

During the conference, expert Bill Cassidy, of The Resource Partnership LLC, who leads the team of specialists, was responsible for the presentation of the STEM World system.

The following persons were also present at the conference: Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, President of the Economic and Social Council of the Educational Pact; the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Ligia Amada Melo de Cardona; the Deputy Ministers of Education, Luis Matos and Víctor Sánchez; the Director of Curriculum, Carmen Sánchez; representatives of the Salomé Ureña Higher Institute for Teacher Training (ISFODOSU), and other individuals associated with the education sector.