Ministry of Education Presents National Francophone Song Festival

Ministry of Education Presents National Francophone Song Festival
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo 4/10/2013

The Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) held the National FrancophoneSongFestival as one of the activitiesfor celebrating Francophone Month, which offers Dominicanstudentsanopportunity to learn aboutthe cultureofFrench-speaking countriesand develop their communication skills through artistic and cultural activities.

“For us it is very important that Dominican students learn French, as this allows them to expand their cultural universe and have more and better opportunities in academic and professional areas,” Henríquez said.

When delivering her speechon behalf of Education Minister Josefina Pimentel, MINERD Impact Programs Coordinator Ligia Henríquez said that, in partnership with francophone institutions, they have developed several programs to streng then and improve the quality of education, especially those oriented to on going teacher training.

“For us it is very important that Dominican studentslearnFrench, as thisallows them toexpand theircultural universeand have moreand better opportunitiesin academicand professional areas,” Henríquez said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Delia Blanco, Francophone ambassador inthe countryunder the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,in her lecture ontheFrench language, Francophonie and Multilingualism, said that theDominican Republichas been a state member of the Organisation Internacionale de la Francophonie (OIF) since October 22, 2010. The OIF was created in 1970 and it has 70 member states and governments united by the French language.

Blanco emphasized thatthe Dominican authoritiesunderstandthat French isa tool for developmentand integrationandshe thanked MINERD“ for their enthusiasm with francophonie during these days and involvement with the schools.”

“The ministries of education, thanks to cooperative partnering measuresinDominican educationare preparing professors and future scholarship recipientstoproperlyhandlethe French language,”said the Francophone ambassador.She reported thatof the 220million French speakersin the world, 60% are under30 years of age, meaning that the French languageis instilledmainly in are productive segment of the population, so expect them to produce more French speakers.

Since 1997, the coverage of French in the official curriculumhas been expanded. It used to be taught at the middle school level only, while today it iscompulsory from the fifth gradeon.

Present at theNational FrancophoneSongFestivalwas the Ambassadorof Switzerland to theDominican Republic, LineMarieLeon-Pernet;on behalfof the Embassy ofFrance,the person in charge oflinguistic cooperation, Anne Dutestre; FiorBencosme, head of InternationalRelations for APECUniversity;andJosianneGarelli, Director of the Departmentof Modern Languages atthe Technological University ofSantiago(UTESA). Regional and districtdirectorsofeducationand students also attended.

The ceremony had artistic presentations in French by students from different levels of the various education regions.

Students who participated in National Francophone Song Festival