MINERD informs on the rules that govern monolingual and bilingual schools

MINERD informs on the rules that govern monolingual and bilingual schools
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 05/29/13

The Ministry of Education (MINERD), through the Directorate of School Accreditation (DACE – Dirección de Acreditación de Centros Educativos), organized a National Meeting with the principals of monolingual and bilingualschools, to share the regulations that govern then work of those schools.

She defined the meeting as a space to promote dialogue, where the school principals were able to participate, make suggestions, present proposals and unify criteria.

The event, which took place at the Hotel Magna 365 in Santo Domingo, was chaired by the head of the DACE, Ms. Susana Michel Hernández, who was accompanied by Carmen Sánchez and Ancell SchekerMendoza, Directors of Curriculum, and Evaluation and Quality Control in Education, respectively.

Ms. Michel explained that during the meeting,the four issues in the agenda were addressed,and that the meetingalso served to clarify the criteria and the procedures required by the MINERD to authorize the operations of private schools.

She explained that the DACE seeks to establish effective communication channels between MINERD’s authorities and the principals of said schools.

She defined the meeting as a space to promote dialogue, where the school principals were able to participate, make suggestions, present proposals and unify criteria.

Carmen Sánchez presented the requirements that are established in the curriculum for the correct implementation of the Spanish curriculum, which are designed to encourage compliance with the current rules regarding the school subjects that are compulsory.

The school principals received guidance on the curriculum guidelines that are compulsory in the country, the subjects that are to be taught in Spanish according to their content, classroom time, and academic gradesand terms that are contained in the official curriculum, and how to comply with MINERD’s recommendations on the bibliography to be used.

In addition, the discussion included the elements of the pedagogical model and the need to explicitly formulate each school’s model.

Another issue that was addressed during the dialogue was the analysis of the existing rules for the recognition, validation and legalization process of the international curricula by the Directorate of Accreditation and Certification of Studies (Dirección de Acreditación y Titulación de Estudios). MINERD has registered 20 monolingual schools, which are those that implement a curriculum different from the Spanishcurriculum and which only teach social sciences, moral and civic education, and the Spanish languagecourses in the national language.

Meanwhile, the total number of registered bilingual schools is 30, and they implement the official curriculum in Spanish plus in another language, either partially or fully, in accordance with the rulesthat apply fortheir international accreditation.

Susana Michel Hernández, Director of School Accreditation (DACE), while addressing the participants in the meeting.