Technicians Debate Policies to Reinforce Learning in the Early School Years

Technicians Debate Policies to Reinforce Learning in the Early School Years
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo  9/ 23/2011

Technicians of the Ministry of Education (MINERD), the Poveda Cultural Center, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Madre y Maestra Catholic Pontificate University (PUCMM) discussed, at a two-day work session, the policy of support for teaching the basic level of reading, writing and arithmetic in the primary grades.

One purpose of the work session was to analyze the proposed involvement of partner institutions with respect to this initiative and work plans, so that they are mutually enriched.

One purpose of the work session was to analyze the proposed involvement of partner institutions with respect to this initiative and work plans, so that they are mutually enriched.

Upon speaking at the plenary of the closure, Minister of Education, Josefina Pimentel, said the exercise will contribute to aligning the education system and will allow all those involved in the formative process to focus on these teachings.

“This process represents a great challenge because it is a systemic intervention, as it will affect all schools, districts and regions, which presupposes a major coordination effort. In the future, this effort will permit certifying first cycle teachers within a process of reorientation of their teaching career,” she said.

The minister also stressed that the work session will help to contextualize the way in which learning is produced, the type of competencies that are defined in the curriculum and to identify the gap between the elaborated curriculum, the teacher’s real methods and the results obtained.

The workshop, held in the General Customs Office club, was organized by the Deputy Minister of Technical and Pedagogic Services and the Directorate of Initial and Basic Education of MINERD.

Agreements

The agreements reached include the involvement of regional and district directors and of schools, teachers and technicians of the PUCMM, the Poveda Center and the OEI, all of whom agreed to a commitment to improve the quality of learning in the primary grades.

It was also agreed to begin training regional and district directors and school principals in the remainder of September and all of October; to share and enrich teaching techniques; and to refine and specify the roles and functions of those involved.

At the opening session of the workshop, Deputy Minister of Technical Services and Pedagogy, Minerva Vincent, said that improvement of teaching in the primary grades is the main policy of educational authorities, in the framework of the three large axis in which the present action is based.

Throughout the course of the workshop, Carmen Sánchez, general director of Beginning and Basic Education, and Mercedes González, inter-institutional coordinator of the project, presented the goals and purpose of the work session. They also provided a general orientation and explanation of the methodologies to be used in the discussions.

Representatives of the Poveda Center talked about the program of teaching reading, writing and arithmetic in the first cycle at the basic level in the Southern Region of the Dominican Republic. The OEI presented a proposal for intervening in the first cycle of basic education in schools of the Eastern region. Meanwhile, the PUCMM presented its Proposal to support the Ministry of Education for the 2011-2012 academic year in Spanish language and mathematics in the northern region.

Also, a panel was held in which participants shared experiences of strategy developed by MINERD on the accompanying teaching process.

Minister of Education Josefina Pimentel speaking at the closure of the inter-institutional workshop.