Education Ministry Hands Over Unprecedented Sum of Resources to Decentralized School Districts

Education Ministry Hands Over Unprecedented Sum of Resources to Decentralized School Districts
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 7/21/2013

The Ministry of Education’s second transfer of funds this year to the Decentralized School Districts represents the largest handover of resources to these organizations since the promulgation of the General Education Law 66-97 in 16 years. This is part of a process that has made it possible to transform a school with many limitations into one that is completely dynamic.

The transfer of these funds, in excess of $1.2 billion Dominican pesos, has greatly impacted the quality of education and has helped make the Regional Boards and schools function …

The transfer of these funds, in excess of $1.2 billion Dominican pesos, has greatly impacted the quality of education and has helped make the Regional Boards and schools function more efficiently. They can now work and resolve their own problems and budgetary needs because they have access to their own resources.

A total of 2.4 billion pesos have been transferred to the Decentralized School Districts this year. Of this amount, RD$ 117,124,120 are managed by the Regional Boards;RD$ 234,248,240 in the Districts. A total of RD$ 2.1 billion are being used the schools, representing85% of the transferred funds.

In recent years, the Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish) has dedicated a great deal of its support and energy to educational decentralization, recognizing that working successfully in education requires a multi-sector integration where all representatives of society meet.

The General Directorate of Management and Educational Decentralization of MINERD explained that these transfers of more than 2.4 billion pesos made within the first seven months of 2013, and based on this year’s budget, is equivalent to 200% of the total amount transferred in 2012, which was slightly less than 1.2 billion.

These resources are positively impacting the country’s 1,842,374 students throughout the 18 Regional School Boards, 104 District Boards and 6,874 Educational Centers.

The amount of money transferred was higher this year thanks to an allocation of up to 4% of the Gross Domestic Product. For example, the Decentralized Regional Board 06 of La Vega rose from 4 to 15 million pesos per year. In Moca’s District 06-06, their budget rose from$500,000 to $2 million per trimester.

The Juan Pablo Duarte School of La Vega’s District 06-04 in the Nibaje neighborhood, received 480,211 pesos in the first trimester of this year, quite a bit higher than the 353,547 pesos they received last year. Another school that saw its budget increased was La Vega’s Ramón del Orbe School in Palmarito that last year received 201,102 pesos and now is receiving 965,255 pesos every three months.

La Vega’s Magüey–Las Uvas Elementary School, one of the Extended Day programschools, received between 10,000 and 11,000 pesos. Since then, their budget has increased, especially in 2013, around 1.8 million pesos.

These organizations are represented by school principals, teachers, students, parents, civil society, the business community, churches, local government and legislators who are all working together for educational quality.

Iluminada Rosario Cruz, Secretary of La Vega’s Regional 06 Board,affirms that through the allocation of these funds they have been able to undertake numerous activities they were unable to do before, “and this has significantly improved, not just the educational processes but also the physical aspect of the schools.”

For Froilán Mercedes, Secretary of Moca’s Regional Board 06-06, the process has implied a virtual revolution, “because the percentage we received before decentralization was minimal. If you ask the school directors, they will certainly say that the resources are reaching them.”

Wellington Gómez, president of western La Vega’s Juan Pablo Duarte School in District 06-04, believes that the transfer of funds has significantly improved the quality of education and has also improved the atmosphere in the schools with the consolidation of projects.

Ángela García, president of the board of La Vega’s Professor Ramón del Orbe, in Palmarito, said that it has had a great impact and has made the schools more dynamic. “It has been one of the most brilliant government initiatives that has enabled resources to come directly to the schools where they can be channeled into the school’s needs and ultimately help raise the educational level.”

Ana Gisela Peña, president of the Board at the Magüey-Las Uvas School in La Vega, said that teachers are now much calmer than in the past when “they did not have time to repair small things like the school sinks, much less the recess areas.”

The Decentralized School Boards are organizations that manage their own resources in the classrooms and are used for theteacher training, personnel support, mostly clerical, and technical staff. It is also involved in cultural and other events in which students and teachers are stimulated and win prizes. Schools also use the funds to improve infrastructure and to purchase technology equipment as well as disposable and cleaning materials, all without having to rely on the main headquarters of the MINERD.

The process of decentralization of the education system has gained traction after last year’s adoption of Resolution No. 0668-2011, which establishes the decentralization of funds to guarantee the functioning of the Decentralized School Boards and givesthem no less than 2.5% of the budget allocated to the Ministry of Education.

Thanks to resources from the Educational Decentralization program, the Juan Pablo Duarte School, in La Vega’s Regional 06 Board, is a dynamic institution today