MINERD and the Embassy of Venezuela sign agreement to sponsor schools

MINERD and the Embassy of Venezuela sign agreement to sponsor schools
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 23, 2012

The Ministry of Education (MINERD) and the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela signed a cooperation agreement to sponsor three schools in Santo Domingo, Bonao and Santiago.

“I value this initiative, and I hope that this effort will be extended to other schools and also that we will be able to reciprocate it by supporting and sponsoring an educational center, with a view to building a bridge of mutual knowledge exchange between our cultures,”…

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Education Josefina Pimentel, and the Minister Counselor and Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Major Francisco Centeno, on behalf of Ambassador Alfredo Murga Rivas, during a ceremony that took place at MINERD.

Minister Pimentel statedthat she hoped that with this agreement the processes of identity construction and the creation of a spirit of solidarity will be strengthened in children, and that the mutual respect and the exchange between both countries will be focused on key issues.

“I value this initiative, and I hope that this effort will be extended to other schools and also that we will be able to reciprocate it by supporting and sponsoring an educational center, with a view to building a bridge of mutual knowledge exchange between our cultures,” said the Minister of Education.

Lic. Aura Contreras Boyer, Counselor in charge of Education at the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, expressed appreciation for the signature ofthe agreement on behalf of the Ambassador.

She said that they had been working on this agreement for several months and that they had been involved with the community to begin the process of transformation and to build a relationship based on education.

Through this agreement, the Embassy commits itself to sponsoring the following educational centers: Simón Bolívar, located in Educational District 15-02 (Santo Domingo); Simón Rodríguez, located in District 16-04 (Bonao); and the República de Venezuela, located in District 08-01 (San José de las Matas, Santiago), to develop recreational, training and cultural activities, and to support the strengthening of libraries, toy libraries and newspaper archives, the Associations of Parents and Friends of the School (APMAE for its acronym in Spanish), and class committees.

MINERD agrees to work together with the Embassy of Venezuela in the process of implementation of the sponsorship program in those schools, and to help coordinate with the corresponding school directors to ensure that the program is implemented.

The agreement will remain in force for a period of one year, and unless one of the parties gives the other a six-month advance notice of its intention to terminate it, it shall automatically be renewed.

The Minister of Education Josefina Pimentel, and the Minister Counselor and Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Major Francisco Centeno, on behalf of Ambassador Alfredo Murga Rivas, at the signing of the agreement.