INAFOCAM provides hundreds of scholarships to high school graduates to be trained as teachers

INAFOCAM provides hundreds of scholarships to high school graduates to be trained as teachers
Santiago Domingo, Dominican Republic, 11/05/2013

Between July and October, 2013, and with an investment of 194,513,000 pesos, the National Institute for Teacher Education and Training (INAFOCAM – Instituto Nacional de Formación y Capacitación del Magisterio) incorporated 515 graduates from the Northern, Southern and Eastern parts of the country into several programs that the Institute coordinates with support from various institutions of higher education, leading up to a Bachelor’s degree of Education.

… the number of high school graduates that have received scholarships from INAFOCAM during the year 2013, including during the already mentioned quarter, is 779, for a total investment of 256,349,000 pesos.

According to a note from INAFOCAM Communications Office, the number of high school graduates that have received scholarships from INAFOCAM during the year 2013, including during the already mentioned quarter, is 779, for a total investment of 256,349,000 pesos.

The high school graduates are pursuing Bachelor’s degrees in Education in Physics and Mathematics, Basic Education, Spanish Language and Social Sciences, Biology and Chemistry, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and Language and Social Sciences.

They also participate in the Bachelor of Education for Teaching Natural Sciences and in two training programs for teaching in the First and Second Cycles of Basic Education.

The participating high school graduates are from Barahona, San Juan de la Maguana, Azua, San Cristóbal, San Pedro de Macorís, La Vega, San Francisco de Macorís, Santiago, Moca, Puerto Plata, Mao, Puerto Plata, Higuey, Montecristi, Nagua, Cotuí, Monte Plata, Neyba, Santo Domingo (Regionals 10 and 15), and Neyba.

The universities that have supported INAFOCAM in training the high school graduates as teachers during the last quarter are: the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), campuses of Santo Domingo and Santiago; the Technological Catholic University of Barahona (UCATEBA); ISA University; and the Instituto Cultural Dominico Americano University (UNICDA).

According to the INAFOCAM note, until last year, high school graduates who entered the teacher training programs attended classes two days a week to work on the curriculum, which affected the quality of their training. Now, the high school graduates attend the program full time, and those who pursue the degree in Natural Sciences at ISA University attend in the modality of boarding school.

INAFOCAM held a series of meetings with the high school graduates at the university campuses and at its headquarters, in order to sign the contracts formalizing their participation and committing them to comply with the necessary requirements to attain the degree in Education.

At the meetings, INAFOCAM executives and technicians explained to them the importance of the education sector for the social and economic development of the Dominican Republic.

They were also informed of the process that the education authorities have undertaken to improve the physical living conditions of the teachers, as well as the command these professionals must have of the content of the subjects they will teach to the students.

ISA University

High school graduates in Physics and Mathematics with PUCMM

High school graduates in the English Language with UNICDA