The Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic (Minerd) has set up the commission in charge of leading the process of Reform and Modernization of the Pre-university Education Sector, as well as four working groups, made up of representatives from different sectors of society.
This is in compliance with Decree 365-23, issued by President Luis Abinader, which seeks to strengthen the institutionality, governance and effectiveness of public policies related to the education sector.
The working groups are made up of one for the Coordination of the Review and Updating of the Normative Framework, another for the Coordination of the Subsector Plan (Ten-Year Plan), the third for the Coordination of Organizational Development and Normative Human Management and the fourth for the Coordination of Educational Quality and Learning.
The Minister of Education, Angel Hernandez, while leading a meeting at the Minerd headquarters, raised the need for this commission to be expanded to include all sectors of society, including political parties represented in Congress, in order to comply with the aforementioned Decree 365-23.
“The important thing is that all sectors and all those who have something to say about the Education sector be part of the commissions team to guarantee the continuity of the project,” said the minister.
Darío Castillo Lugo, Minister of Public Administration, expressed the relevance of the Plan for the Reform and Modernization of the Public Administration (Reformap) promoted by the MAP, which includes in one of its axes the Sectorial Reform, with the Education sector as one of those prioritized by the project. It was emphasized that they will be technically accompanying the Minerd and the work tables in the execution of Decree 365-23, for the advancement of pre-university education in the country.
Rolando Reyes, Vice Minister of Educational Planning and Development of the Ministry of Education, presented the general and specific challenges and challenges of the reforms and the formulation of the long term plan for the Education sub-sector, as mandated by Decree 365-23. He said that the work teams to be formed would be articulated with the lines of action of each table.
He maintained that the reform is a necessary condition for the implementation of the Plan to have the desired impacts, and stressed that the documents that precede this plan, such as the Education Pact, the National Development Strategy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4) and the 2021 National Consultation, must be taken into account.
During the meeting, the Vice-Minister for Public Administration Reform and Modernization, Gregorio Montero, presented the General Plan for Public Administration Reform and Modernization, while Porfirio Quezada, advisor to the MAP, discussed the work methodology to be used for the Sector Reform.
Likewise, the representatives of the different sectors made proposals and suggestions for the strengthening of the plan in favor of the education sector.
About the decree
President Abinader established through Decree 365-23 that in order to facilitate and integrate the follow-up, monitoring and evaluation of results, the bodies and entities of the education sector must integrate in their institutional strategic planning, operational planning and procurement plan, the initiatives, products and results derived from the Plan for the Reform and Modernization of the Education Sector.
The piece of legislation establishes that the reform process, as instructed by the President, will address aspects such as the updating of the sector’s regulations; review and update of educational policies; strengthening of the planning system, policy programming and strategies aimed at the use of resources; strengthening of the strategic and operational coordination between the bodies and entities of the public, non-governmental and private sectors, to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of educational policies.
It also addresses the rationalization of the Minerd’s organizational structure; the integration and interoperability of common transversal systems, to increase the adequate use of resources; improve the portfolio of services and products to meet the expectations of the educational community; the strengthening of the institutional image; as well as other complementary initiatives deemed relevant to improve the system.
Source: presidencia.gov.do