Education Ministry Promotes Educational Decentralization in Effort to Improve Quality of Education

Education Ministry Promotes Educational Decentralization in Effort to Improve Quality of Education
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 3/22/2012

The Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) will earmark no less than 2.5% of this year´s budget, over 58.6 billion pesos, to decentralized school districts.

This is an unprecedented investment in the history of education in the Dominican Republic. The objective is to improve the institutional management and to raise the pedagogical and teaching levels of schools across the country, according to Minister Pimentel.

The measure is being carried out as fulfillment of Resolution number 0668-2011, emitted by Education Minster, Josefina Pimentel, in September of last year.

As per the application of the Resolution, the decentralized districts will receive 1,464,760, 564 pesos, of which 5% will be assigned to the regional offices, 10% to the districts offices and 85% to the school offices (1,245, 046, 479 pesos).

This is an unprecedented investment in the history of education in the Dominican Republic. The objective is to improve the institutional management and to raise the pedagogical and teaching levels of schools across the country, according to Minister Pimentel.

The Minister explained that the re-launching the educational decentralization process is rooted in three areas which current management is promoting: institutional strengthening, quality and social dialogue.

In addition, educational decentralization also seeks for the actors within the education system to work together and to achieve a higher quality education that responds to the demands of today by providing students with the development necessary to live and succeed as global citizens.

Minister Pimentel said that, as part of the process, there are currently 18 regional offices constituted, 104 regional and 868 elementary and middle schools and 2,643 offices and basic level networks.

She pointed out that in the period between August 2010 and October 2011, the Ministry of Education transferred funds to decentralized offices in the amount of 409,632, 724 pesos, distributed among the regional, district and school offices for them to fulfill their different programs and actions such as school maintenance, supervision, teachers days and workshops in the various curricular areas.

Of these funds, 82% of the total amount distributed has been carried out in similar divisions (41%) in the district offices and schools, which constitute an important manifestation of the vision the school authorities have with respect to the issue of decentralization.

Meanwhile, in the short term, the Minister assured that important efforts and actions are ongoing to conform and restructure the offices of schools with 500 or more students, which are capacitated and ready to receive a transfer of 722 resources in 17 regional and 98 districts.

As part of the efforts being undertaken by the MINERD to strengthen this policy, the Deputy Minister for Educational Decentralization held a workshop seminar last February 7-9 on Re-Launching Decentralization to Promote Quality Education. The workshop was held in a hotel in Boca Chica.

In a message to the participants of the workshop, Minister Pimentel reported that the transference of funds for this process will be done on a trimester basis. She also warned that in order to guarantee pulchritude and transparency, the offices will have to meet a series of conditions in order to receive the money and will have to carry out their functions in accordance with the General Law of Education 66-97.

“With the re-launch of educational decentralization we hope to contribute to the improvement in the quality of teaching and learning for the children and teens and to provide them with better conditions. We are certain that all of us will be able to contribute to building the school which these new times demand,” said Minister Pimentel.