INAFOCAM and UNPHU prepare teachers to serve people with special learning needs

INAFOCAM and UNPHU prepare teachers to serve people with special learning needs
Santo Domingo, February 10, 2014

The National Institute for Teacher Education and Training (INAFOCAM) recently began offering, with the academic support of the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU), a bachelor’s degree in Special Education that will benefit 65 high school graduates from four provinces in the Dominican Republic.

The program of study lasts 3 years and 8 months and is funded entirely by INAFOCAM. The curriculum has been approved by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.
Scholarship recipients come from the provinces of Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal, Monte Plata, and Nagua.

Through this academic program, INAFOCAM aims to train teachers with strategies to target and address the teaching and learning processes related to students with special education needs in the context of inclusive education.

Thus, the institution coordinating the program, seeks to confront the reality that there are a lot of people with special education needs in the country, and that there is a reduced number of education professionals that are able to adequately address those special needs.

Therefore, the said agency coordinates with institutions of higher education, such as the UNPHU, to create bachelor’s degree programs in special education, to incorporate high school graduates who meet the eligibility requirements.

As part of the initial education protocol of the new Special Education teachers, the high school graduates participated in a ceremony of contract signature in which they agreed to take the contents of the curriculum to be implemented in the UNPHU classrooms.

The contract signing ceremony was held at the INAFOCAM’s virtual classroom and was led by the Director of the Department of Scholarships of the INAFOCAM, Carmen Reynoso, with the support of Morayma Álvarez, Technician of the area.

Teacher Reynoso guided the high school graduates on the responsibilities and the importance of pursuing the bachelor’s program and receiving the corresponding degree, because the education system is demanding professionals in that area.

The contract signing ceremony was attended also by Elías Reyes, Technician in the Department of Initial Education; María Estela Gonzales, Director of Institutional Development and Quality Management; Eleuterio Ferreira, Director of the Center for Documentation; and Raquel Liriano and Francisco Heredia of INAFOCAM’s Legal Consultancy.