MINERD kicks off XXXVII School Song Month

MINERD kicks off XXXVII School Song Month
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 10/6/2012

The Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) inaugurated the XXXVII School Song Month during a ceremony in which Education Minister, Josefina Pimentel, announced the extension of Education in Arts to the Salomé Ureña Institute and the Republic of Argentina Center of Excellence.

She added that the arts are also “an effective way to ensure that students learn to develop skills that favor the harmonious and efficient utilization of their sensory-motor, cognitive, perceptual, judgmental, critical appraisal and expression resources.”

Starting this month, these educational centers will teach Music and Performing Arts, and Applied and Performing Visual Arts, as stated by the Minister in her keynote address, which also was attended by Minister of Sports Jaime David Fernández Mirabal and Minister of Culture José Antonio Rodríguez.

The opening ceremony of Song School Month was held at the Salomé Ureña Institute. This year the commemoration pays tribute to the Maestro José A. Rodríguez Pimentel, for his contributions as a songwriter of Dominican school songs and director of several generations of student choirs.

In the keynote address, the Minister of Education stated that MINERD would continue to strengthen the arts in middle schools, on the grounds that “they stimulate ability and creative force in human beings, raising emotions and feelings. Also, they are an ideal vehicle for communication, education and personal and social expression.”

She added that the arts are also “an effective way to ensure that students learn to develop skills that favor the harmonious and efficient utilization of their sensory-motor, cognitive, perceptual, judgmental, critical appraisal and expression resources.”

Minister Pimentel recalled that the arts have been part of the curriculum since 1995 and implemented since 1998 through self-management of the Santa Ana Polytechnic Institute education centers, with over 250 students graduating in the Visual Arts and Music; Pedro Henríquez Ureña, of the Regional 2 of San Juan de la Maguana, which began in 2011 and will graduate its first class this year, and the Lycée Manuel del Cabral of Regional 10 of Santo Domingo, which offers Visual and Applied Arts.

Meanwhile, Minister of Culture Jose Antonio Rodriguez said the schools and colleges of the country will find a natural ally in this Ministry to help with the duty of spreading Dominican and universal culture to classrooms and recreation areas.

“The Ministries of Education and Sports and their ministers know that we are here, with enthusiasm and a great sense of responsibility, to fulfill previous agreements and to strengthen cultural work within and outside Dominican schools and colleges,” he said.

Minister Rodriguez made a team of consultants and experts from the Ministry of Culture available to MINERD “so that to the extent we can help them, the current curriculum review will benefit from the knowledge and experience accumulated by the national artistic community.”

The program of the event included welcoming remarks from the director of Regional 15, Francisca Suero; a historical account of Salomé Ureña Institute by Father Tom Lluberes; and performances by students and teachers of the Salomé Ureña Institute, Victor Estrella Liz, Santa Ana Polytechnic and the Republic of Argentina, and the singer Claudio Cohen.

School Song Month activities are the responsibility of the area of Artistic Education, a branch of the General Directorate of the Curriculum of the Vice-Ministry of Technical and Educational Services of MINERD. They are supported by the Ministry of Sports, as part of its interest in promoting teamwork, discipline, psychomotor skills and healthy competition, as well as the achievement of goals, concentration, and the use of individual and collective space.

The commemoration also has the support of the Ministry of Culture, under a collaborative agreement with MINERD.

The celebrations will conclude with the XXXVI Festival of Choirs José de Jesús Ravelo, with the participation of groups from public and private schools, whose purpose is to promote sports, culture and schooling.

October was declared School Song Month in Presidential Decree 11-41 of 1975.