Administrative Minister for the Presidency Jose Ramon Peralta said yesterday, Monday 22 July, that the government had promised 10,000 new school classrooms this year, and that although they would not be ready for the start of the school year in August, they would be finished by the end of the calendar year.
He made the statement on the occasion of the swearing in of the new Education Minister Carlos Amarante Baret at the Presidential Palace yesterday. Outgoing Education Minister Josefina Pimentel was present and offered her support to Amarante. As reported in Listin Diario, Amarante Baret said he would need her experience and would be calling her.
Amarante said he takes the post at a time when there is about to be a revolution in the education system. The government has doubled the budget for the sector. He called for teachers, students, parents and Dominican society as a whole to work together for what he described as a great national project.
El Caribe reports that Amarante needs to coordinate the work of the Ministry of Public Works, Office of Supervisory Engineering Works of the Presidency, Controller General Office, the Treasury and the State Sugar Council (which has the land where the schools are to be built) with the Ministry of Education in order to facilitate the construction and operation of the new schools that are needed to extend teaching hours in public schools nationwide.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2013/7/22/285392/Gobierno-reconoce-que-las-10-mil-aulas-prometidas-no-estaran-listas-para
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2013/7/22/285399/Ministro-de-Educacion-dice-trabajara-sin-grupos-ni-partidistas