At a time when the debate has intensified and vigils all over the country continue to highlight the demand for 4% of the GDP to be allocated to the education sector, yesterday the government expressed its belief Law 66-97 should be modified. The General Law on Education establishes that 4% of the GDP should be assigned to the educational system, and the modifications would adapt the law to the budgetary realities.
After a meeting with President Leonel Fernandez at the Presidential Palace yesterday, Minister of Hacienda Vicente Bengoa said he believed that this legislation and other laws should be adapted so that none have budgets based on percentages. According to Diario Libre, he said that the resources should be determined depending on the budgetary needs, as often the government cannot comply, as is occurring now with regard to education. “What surprises us is that this law was promulgated in 1997 and in 13 years, no administration, including those of the PLD and Hipolito Mejia, has been able to assign 4% of the GDP to Education. This is a law that needs to be modified, that same as the law that assigns 10% to the municipalities”, he stated. He said that the very office of the President, that is supposed to receive 5% of the current revenue (RD$17 billion), but Hacienda, in its budget cuts, assigned it RD$7 billion and Leonel Fernandez understood this.
“I wish that they would go out with umbrellas asking that the President be given those RD$17 billion that are supposed to be his. Everybody was cut. There are several laws that are absurd and make no sense and are impossible to comply with”, he stressed. He added that unfortunately there are 21 laws that cannot be applied because they involve a lot of resources and would oblige the closure of several ministries. According to Bengoa, this administration has given the largest amount money to education, increasing from RD$11 billion when the PLD came to power, to the current level of RD$49 billion. He also reiterated that a Budgetary Supplementary Bill will be introduced next year and that 30% of this money could be used to build schools and buy desks, but not for publicity or salaries. They will have some RD$3 billion for these purposes.