Ministry of Education and Tax Office Sign Addenda to Accord on Tax Training Program in the Schools

Ministry of Education and Tax Office Sign Addenda to Accord on Tax Training Program in the Schools
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic  9/17/2011

The Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) and the General Office of Internal Revenue (DGII in Spanish) signed an addenda to the Training and Follow-up Project Agreement for the Inclusion of Tax Information in Civic Education  through which Articles three and four of the agreement will be modified relative to the amount and relavance.

“This new generation of citizens, comprised of our children, will develop a culture of efficiency in the management of tax collection…”

The addenda was signed by the Education Minister, Josefina Pimentel and DGII Director General, Juan Hernández, at an event in the Ercilia Pepín hall of the Ministry of Education.       

Minister Pimentel said that for the Ministry, the agreement has great relevance as it will allow the Ministry to incorporate a consciousness about tax duties and rights into the education system while also creating a more comprehensive view among young people about how the system functions and how taxes contribute to sustain and improve all levels of society as a whole.

“This new generation of citizens, comprised of our children, will develop a culture of efficiency in the management of tax collection. But, most of all, they will be made aware of the importance of transparency, ethics and values that accompany the fulfillment of our duties as citizens within this system,” said Minister Pimentel.

The Education Minister went on to congratulate the DGII for being a model institution within the Dominican State and public system.

Juan Hernández, DGII Director, said the signing of the addenda completed the process that now ushers in a new phase of creating a sense of fiscal commitment among Dominican citizens.

Mr. Hernández thanked the MINERD and the Madre y Maestra Pontifical Catholic University (PUCMM) for having taken on this project which will be beneficial to the Dominican nation.  He presented Minister Pimental with a luxury collection of tax education guidebooks.

As part of the addenda, the signatories agreed to extend the time period to one year and 6 months, retroactively from November 15 to May 31, 2012, at a cost of 3 million pesos.

The goal of the addenda is to finish up the pending activities which correspond to the first phase of the project having to do with accompanying workshops in San Pedro de Macorís, La Romana, Higüey, Baní, Ocoa, San Juan de la Maguana, Nagua, Santiago and Mao.

In addition, it also seeks to introduce a second phase of the Training Program to technicians and teachers in the district. To this end, they will use the project,  A New Way of Learning to Participate, to help teachers develop attitudes among their students that will lead them to understand and recognize the importance of the new culture of taxation and the duties and rights it implies.

The Training and Follow-up Project Agreement for the Inclusion of Tax Information in Civic Education was initially signed on December 16, 2009. Through this agreement, regional and district directors as well as district technicians of MINERD have been trained in the use of Tax Education Guidelines, to act as facilitators for docents with the goal of providing adequate training for citizens in all aspects of tax assessment for future professionals. Funds for this training were provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) released by the DGII to the Consortium of Civic Education of the PUCMM for the training.

Others present at the signing ceremony included Germania Montás, Deputy Director General of the DGII; Francisco Vásquez, Director of the Tax Education Department and Laura Acosta, in charge of the Formal Education section. From MINERD, several people accompanied the Minister including legal consultant, Carmen Reyes; Deputy Minister, Gissel Féliz; Yuri Rodríguez, administrative director; Deputy Minister and director of Communication and Public Relations, Emilia Pereyra; Deputy Minister Alexis Fradera and Fernando Ogando, director of the Office of International Cooperation (OCI).

Minister of Education, Josefina Pimentel, and Director General of the DGII, Juan Hernández, signing the addenda of the agreement.