President Leonel Fernandez urged a reform of the educational system in the Dominican Republic in order to respond to the true needs of the new economic and social development models the nation needs to immediately adopt. He announced the creation of the National Commission for Excellence in Education, a forum that, as of January, would serve to discuss and promote national dialogue on the sorely needed educational reforms.
Furthermore, the President announced during a workshop on superior education held at the Fundacion Global, Democracia y Desarrollo yesterday that the nation’s first community college will be installed at the ITLA facilities and will be a pilot program for future community colleges across the country. Daytona Beach Community College of Florida, the Fundacion Global, Democracia y Desarrollo and a group of businessmen of the eastern Province of Santo Domingo are backing the Community College of Las Americas. The college will reportedly offer short-term technical programs that would enable students to enter the labor force in a less than two years. ITLA is located one kilometer from the Las Americas International Airport, near Boca Chica.