President Danilo Medina launches the start of the 2013-2014 school year

President Danilo Medina launches the start of the 2013-2014 school year
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 08/19/2013

President Danilo Medina led the inaugural ceremony that launched the 2013-2014 school yearin which the government has invested RD$6,797,408,656.88. According to the projections, 2,710,832 students will participate in the current school year, divided as follows: 1,983,909 in public schools, 663,863 in private schools and 63,061 in the semi-official schools.

The ceremony took place at the Madre Teresa de Calcutta Centro de Media, in Montellano, Puerto Plata, whose 17-classroom school was inaugurated on that occasion, after having undergone construction work on the amount of RD$54,622,615. The Montellano 22-classroom school was also inaugurated, after having undergone remodeling for a total cost of RD$25,066,026.

In his keynote speech, the Minister of Education, Mr. Carlos AmaranteBaret, said that to ensure the proper conditions for delivering quality education, the government has invested the aforementioned amounts in construction,remodeling, expansion and maintenance of the schools;and on repairing and purchasing school furniture, supplies, teaching materials, textbooks and uniforms for the students, among other items. 

The ceremony took place at the Madre Teresa de Calcutta Centro de Media, in Montellano, Puerto Plata, whose 17-classroom school was inaugurated on that occasion, after having undergone construction work on the amount of RD$54,622,615. The Montellano 22-classroom school was also inaugurated, after having undergone remodeling for a total cost of RD$25,066,026.

The building housing the Madre Teresa high school was built on three levels and will host 630 students. It has the necessary services to ensure the safety and proper development of the teaching-learning process, such as a library, computer and sciencelabs,an inverter and air conditioning, and a co-ed court for basketball and volleyball practice, among other facilities.

Meanwhile, in addition to the classrooms,theMontellano elementary school, which is adjacent to the high school, will havea multipurpose lounge,a kitchen and pantry with a cold room and dispatcher,a dining room with capacity for 85 students, and other fixtures to ensure the provision of services and security, such as steel doors, protective irons, French drain for collecting rainwater,a perimeter fence with a block wall and chain link fence to separate it from the high school, parking lots for teachers, granite benches, and landscaping with grass, palms and ornamental flowers withsprinklers for irrigation.

The Minister said that the Department of Schools Maintenance invested RD$742,138,143.89 during the current school year to build and remodel 498,000 classrooms.

He explained that in order to create the physical and environmental conditions that would make it suitable to provide and receive classes, the Department of Schools Maintenance invested RD$944,621,477 in the Summer Maintenance program toremodel 6,910 schools.

Also, for classroom furniture for new and existing classrooms, the investment will beRD$787,105,149. The corresponding bidding process has started and the process is currently at the technical evaluation stage.

The Dominican pre-university system has 13,278 educational centers, of which 7,543 are public, 365 are private and 5,370 are semi-official.

Staff and teaching materials

Mr. Amarante informed that during this new school year the total investment will beRD$409,796,070 for hiring 3,956 public education employees. Of these, 891 are school principals for whom the allocated costis RD$81,565,613; 354 assistant principalsfor whom the allocated cost isRD$29,548,554; 2,273 teachersfor whom the allocated cost is RD$268,196,952, and 438 school counselors, with an allocated cost of RD$30,393,950.

As for the educational materials for classrooms and schools, the Minister highlighted that a total of RD$172,951,000 has been earmarkedfor the acquisition of 16,597 school kits for the pre-school, first to third grades,and the seventh and eighth grades.

Likewise, he praised the support that the government will provide to the students of primary and secondary levels who are in vulnerable situations and who will receive backpacks, shoes, shirts, pants, socks and school vouchers,for a total investment ofRD$674,019,762 for this school year.

Student Welfare

The Minister of Education also informed that,through the National Student Welfare Institute (INABIE – Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Estudiantil), 1,471,000students of pre-school and primary schoolin the public education systemwill receive food during the 2013-2014 school year, which represents an investment of RD$5,885,000,0000.

He added that, to contract the food services, the Ministry has issued public bids to promote the participation of the SMEs and producers from various parts of the country, thereby complying with the policy of support for that sector that has been established by President Danilo Medina.

Mr. Amarante explained that 70% of the food purchases,representingRD$4,152,000,000, will be acquired directly from more than 150,000 SMEs and agricultural producers across the country, amount that doubles the number of SMEs suppliers that were hired for the school year that just ended.

He reported that with the integration of 470 new schools to the Extended Day Program,some 195,387 students will benefit from the School Feeding Program (PAE – Programa de Alimentación Escolar), which includes breakfast and an afternoon snack as well as lunch.This program represents an investment of RD$1,625.4 million.

“The investment in the lunch for the extended day program hasa high impact in the promotion ofthe SMEs and the local economies, because the purchases go directly to those productive sectors, thanks to the government policy carried out through the INABIE of transferring funds to the schools so that they can purchase food directly from the local merchants and producers, as well as from supplying companies that offer cooked food,” the Minister highlighted.

He saidthat the PAE for the Extended Day program will incorporate around 500 new suppliers between producers and merchantsin those towns.The Marginal Urban modality for the new school year will cover 3,192 schools and 1,319,000 students will benefit.

He explained that as a result of the government policy of promoting local SMEs and producers,in addition to the supply of bread and biscuits in the Marginal Urban PAE modalitysome 40 small bakeries in the various municipalities will be incorporated,whichbrings the number of bakers who will provide the school breakfast from 104 to 140. They will sign contracts during the school year that is startingfor a total amount of RD$1,116 million. The investment in milk and juice for this program is estimated at more than RD$2,431 million.

The PAE REAL and PAE Fronterizo modalities cover about 1,861 schools and 152,254 students from the rural areas and border provinces.

Motivation and follow up

The Minister also stressed that preparations for the school year included Summer Meetings in which regional and district school principals received guidance and support to promote innovative and quality teaching practices.

During those activitiessome 3,500 school counselors and psychologists from all over the country were trained to strengthen their capacities in the strategies of the Program of Guidance and Psychology, based on the competency curriculum.

Covenant for Education

The Minister of Education stressed that, although these policies to improve education are being implemented since August 16, 2012, President Danilo Medina is not satisfied because the President understands that education is a commitment by all and, therefore,he has summoned all the national sectors to sign the Great National Covenant for Education Reform (Gran Pacto Nacional por la Reforma Educativa).

He said that this great covenantwill involve all the dynamic forces of the nation “to accompany the Government, to accompany the teachers, to accompany the students, to accompany the parents in this new covenant that we must forge to bring peace, tranquility and better education to Dominican schools, that is the school of those in need.”

Mr. Amarante Baret invited all the interested parties in the education system to support the covenant for education, because it will lay the foundation, without a doubt,for better quality in education in the Dominican Republic.

During the activity the following persons took the floor:Ms.Fridanela Simons,Principal of the 11 Education Regional of Puerto Plata,who offered the welcoming remarks, and ÁngelaNicolSantos,student of 4th year of high school (12th grade) at theMadre Teresa de Calcutta Centro de Media. The project and the event were blessed by Monsignor Julio César CornielAmaro, Bishop of the Diocese of San Felipe and Gaspar Hernández.

After the closing of the activity, President Danilo Medina cut the ribbon and then toured the school.

The following persons attended the event: the Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ramón Peralta;various Congressmen from the province; Senator Francis Vargas;the Ministers of Culture and Higher Education, José Antonio Rodríguez and Ligia Amada Melo, respectively; and the President of the Dominican Association of Teachers (ADP – Asociación Dominicana de Profesores), Radhamés Hidalgo.

Likewise, the Mayor of Montellano, Omar Sánchez; Ms. Beatrice of Jesús, the school Principal; the Deputy Minister of Education; government officials, and other invited guests, were also in attendance.

President, Danilo Medina, accompanied by the Minister of Education, Mr. Carlos AmaranteBaret, and other officials, cuts the inaugural ribbon at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Media Center, inMontellano, Puerto Plata, where the launching of the school year took place