Ministry of Education Reiterates its Challenge to Confront Illiteracy among Population of 15 and Above

Ministry of Education Reiterates its Challenge to Confront Illiteracy among Population of 15 and Above
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1/14/2012

At an event in celebration of National Literacy Day, the Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) announced that, through its General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education, the Ministry has designed a flexible basic education model for adults and adolescents above the age of fifteen. The program is a response to the high levels of illiteracy and low educational levels affecting a significant segment of the Dominican population.

The General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education has indicated that this effort by MINERD, headed by Josefina Pimentel, recognizes the need to promote an educational program specifically geared to serve the needs of adolescents and adults.

The General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education has indicated that this effort by MINERD, headed by Josefina Pimentel, recognizes the need to promote an educational program specifically geared to serve the needs of adolescents and adults.

This policy is based on data gathered in a 2002 census which indicated that 13% of the population was illiterate; 33% of the population between the ages of 15 and 29 had not finished primary school and 69% of people between the ages of 20 to 29 had not finished middle school. This reality appreciably affects the possibility of human development among this economically active sector of the population.

The General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education explained that the Flexible Education Model for Young People and Adults has been put into operation among more than 120 organizations in civil society. Some 4,000 teachers and directors of basic education programs for young people and adults are taking advantage of their participation to build a consensus with respect to learning among each of the participants in the more than 700 centers and basic learning spaces for young people and adults.

“The management of education of young people and adults, in the perspective of this proposal for a flexible model, assume the teaching of literacy as the fundamental basis and starting point for elementary education as a guarantee of sustainable literacy and as a strategy for consolidating formal and non-formal experiences,” expressed the General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education in a statement.

Modules by educational cycles

In keeping with the current academic curriculum, the flexible model is organized into three cycles, exceeding the organization by years, and structured according to modules: the first cycle by three, the second by four and the third by five modules.

In addition, the curricular offer is organized by taking into account the potentialities of the different spaces where adults are learning without being limited by time constraints. Each learner’s individual pace is what determines and covers the different educational levels, beginning with literacy which is the fundamental first step of the Basic Education for Youth and Adults (EDBJA in Spanish).

“The long and medium-term objective of MINERD is to offer opportunities to sustainably decrease illiteracy among young people and adults by providing flexible strategies so that every Dominican can obtain and complete, at a minimum, an elementary school education, the achievement of which is considered a priority by the teaching professionals involved in the program,” according to the General Directorate of Youth and Adult Education statement.