Minister reiterates the free of charge nature of educational services

Minister reiterates the free of charge nature of educational services
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 9, 2012

The Minister of Education, Mrs. Josefina Pimentel, reiterated the free of charge nature of the educational services that the Dominican Stateoffers, and requested the attention and participation of all stakeholders in the system to unify efforts, with the purpose of fully complying with the current legislation and with the norms that guide its development.

According to Circular Number 13, the State has the responsibility of offering quality education to all its population, particularly to children and youth between the ages of five and 18 years of age.

In Circular Number 16, directed to the Vice ministers of Education, tothe directors of the general, departmental, regional, district and educational centers, and to parents, tutors and students, Minister Pimentel outlined the terms of Circular Number 13, of May 23, 2011, in relation to the free nature of the educational services.

According to Circular Number 13, the State has the responsibility of offering quality education to all its population, particularly to children and youth between the ages of five and 18 years of age.

It also states that the services that the Dominican State offers through the Ministry of Education (MINERD) are free of charge and that no authority has the competency to establish payments for them, thereby suspending all charges that may have been established individually by any department or agency of this institution, either at the local, district, regional or national levels.

Circular Number 13 reiterates that registration, classes, tests, certifications and any other servicesthat are being offered by the educational centers or offices of the Ministry of Education, MINERD, are free of charge.  Consequently, any violation of this instruction must be reported to the appropriate authorities, investigated and penalized.

Additionally, it calls for the Associations of Parents and Friends of the Schools (APMAE for its acronym in Spanish) and for the decentralized boards of education that function with autonomy and under their own statutes and rules, to establish, under consensus, mechanisms forself-management that are not detrimental to families, nor prevent any citizen from obtaining such services when he/she is unable to satisfy any required preconditions.

“I direct the district and regional directors to apply anypenalizationsthat correspond to their authority immediately after confirming a violation, and that they request to the General Director of Human Resources the application of anypenalization that corresponds to such institution in relation to the nature of the misconduct, as established in the General Law of Education, the Law for Public Administration, and the Rules for the Teacher’s Statute,” stated the Minister of Education through Circular Number 16.

And she added: “We also remind you that any persons that feel affected have the right to file lawsuits in that respect through the court system.”