World Bank Experts Evaluate Project for Strengthening Early Childhood Education

World Bank Experts Evaluate Project for Strengthening Early Childhood Education
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, 06/10/2011

Experts from the World Bank are in the country for a week to evaluate the project Strengthening Early Childhood Education (PROFEI, for its acronym in Spanish), according to the Ministry of Education (MINERD).

The World Bank experts, together with MINERD officials and technicians and other social actors, will reflect on the experience, …

The World Bank experts, together with MINERD officials and technicians and other social actors, will reflect on the experience, will examine evidence of impact, and will draw conclusions that will serve to improve on the work being done in the classroom with five year old children.

PROFEI’s interventions are part of the pedagogical model which supports the kindergarten level in the Dominican Republic and strengthens the practices that educators devoted to working with children less than six years of age have introduced into the educational systems worldwide.

These practices reflect a holistic concept of human beings, in which the specifications of each level of development and the context characteristics must be taken into account, and they also must count on the active participation of families, the communities and of a multidisciplinary team of specialists.

From this perspective, the PROFEI’s design defines the official curriculum, creates learning environments and work routines that promote the climate required for children to grow and learn in a proper manner.

The issues addressed by the project administrators are: the establishment of clear and well articulated strategies, the work spaces, games and projects as teaching methodologies, training for teachers and its monitoring, the establishment of teaching groups as spaces for study, reflection, socialization and exchange of experiences among teachers, according to the Department of Public Relations and Communications of the Ministry of Education.

Likewise, the development of schools for parents, the coordinated work of technicians, teachers and families in the Early Childhood Education Model Centers (CMI, for its acronym in Spanish) and the Educational Resources Centers (GROW), the provision of an infrastructure that satisfies the specific requirements of the upcoming interventions, sufficient and appropriate resources for learning, and the systematic evaluation of progress levels.

The onset of the PROFEI assessment was led by Minerva Vincent, Deputy Minister in Charge of MINERD’s Teaching and Technical Affairs, who stressed the importance of the projects supported by international organizations as they introduce innovations in a systematic way, put the country in contact with new benchmarks, trends and approaches, and prevail over the common practice of interrupting ongoing processes and introducing new interventions.

Likewise, Vincent acknowledged Sam Carlson’s work, a World Bank official who has worked on systems aimed at improving education in the developing countries. “He is a man with exceptional qualities as a human being and as a professional. His sensitivity, love for children, professionalism, dedication, and work thoroughness raised the levels of demand for all actors involved in the project. This official loved Dominican children and for over five years he worked with a sense of mission for their welfare,” she recalled.

MINERD officials and officers of its Office of International Cooperation, during a meeting with members of the World Bank mission.