President

President Medina sets at RD$15,000 the minimum pension and retirement plans for teachers
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 12/03/2013

President Danilo Medina set today at RD$15,000 the minimum pension and retirement plans for teachers of the national education system. The presidential order is retroactive to last October.

“As you may have heard, the pensions are offensive to the dignity of our teachers. Today, the President of the Republic, Mr. Danilo Medina Sánchez, has decided to end the agony you have been suffering for years,” said the Minister before 700 retired teachers, who received the news with excitement.

The measure, contained in Decree number 329-13, was disclosed during a ceremony led by President Medina and the Minister of Education, Mr. Carlos Amarante Baret, which took place in the Cariátides Hall of the National Palace, before hundreds of pensioners and retired teachers that were invited for the occasion.

Amarante Baret stated that MINERD currently has 8,959 pensioners and retirees through the National Institute of Teachers’ Welfare (INABIMA – Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Magisterial) and the Ministry of Finance, who receive less than RD$15,000 per month. 3,503 people from among these teachers, or the equivalent of 39.8%, receive RD$5,117.50 per month.

He added that 2,737 teachers, or the equivalent of 30.6%, receive between RD$5,118 and RD$10,000; and that 2,719 teachers, or 30.3%, receive between RD$10,001 and RD$14,999 per month. The government will invest RD$1,074,000 through the Ministry of Education to raise the pensions and retirement funds of those teachers receiving less than RD$15,000 per month.

The measure will benefit some 9,000 pensioners and retirees. The ceremony was attended by President Medina and Minister Amarante Baret, as well as by the Ministers of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo; the Administrative of the Presidency, José Ramón Peralta; the President of the Dominican Association of Teachers, Eduardo Hidalgo; and, Maritza Rossi, Director of the National Institute of Teachers’ Welfare (INABIMA).

“As you may have heard, the pensions are offensive to the dignity of our teachers. Today, the President of the Republic, Mr. Danilo Medina Sánchez, has decided to end the agony you have been suffering for years,” said the Minister before 700 retired teachers, who received the news with excitement.

The Minister of Education announced that the pensions’ increase that has been established by the head of State will be applied retroactively to October, and will be paid this month. This means that “Christmas has come early for our retirees.”

He said that this year MINERD will have RD$252,777,138 available, and that RD$821,525,701.10 will be available in 2014 for the increase to RD$15,000 for pensioners and retirees of the education portfolio, with the objective of improving their quality of life.

“Today we erase in one stroke this black stain that has darkened your life and has caused you suffering and disease, which could have been avoided. And, for many who are not with us anymore, a sad departure and the cruelest oblivion,” Mr. Amarante Baret said.

He also highlighted the actions that the Dominican government is implementing in favor of national education, among which he cited the extended school day, the construction of more than 28,000 new classrooms, the teacher training programs, the salary increase and the incentives that were applied in 2013, as well as the curriculum review, the National Literacy Plan, the construction of 100 early childhood centers, and the integration of parents and communities in the schools.

Meanwhile, the Director of INABIMA stressed that the measure taken by the President of the Republic is one of the most significant policies that have been implemented by the Head of State in the Dominican education system, which have had an impact on the two protagonists of the teaching and learning process, the students and the teachers.

“But it is also part of the activities of the Ministry of Education and specifically promoted by Mr. Carlos Amarante Baret to improve the quality of life of the teachers and retirees of the MINERD,” Rossi said.

Decree is disclosed

Decree 329-13, signed by President Danilo Medina, was announced during the ceremony. Article 1 of the decree establishes the increase to RD$15,000 per month of the minimum pensions and retirement plans of MINERD’s teachers. The increase will be applied retroactively, starting on the month of October of this year.