Education Minister Antonio Peña Mirabal says the Ministry is under pressure to hire public school teachers even when they do not meet minimal standards. He characterized the request as “absurd.” He said this explains the work stoppages by public school teachers during the first week of school.
He said that the Dominican Teachers Guild (ADP) abandoned labor talks because the Ministry would not hire those who had flunked the exams. He said he could not do that because it would be fraudulent.
Peña Mirabal says that during the Medina administration wages of public school teachers have doubled, and their living conditions have improved. He noted that over RD$11 billion was paid out to some 84,000 teachers as incentives for obtaining advanced degrees over the past year. He added that the conditions of retired teachers have also improved.
He called the work stoppage “insensitive” and that it is depriving school children of their constitutional right to education.
Readers will remember that only 24% of the 54,000 applicants passed the first phase of testing. The education minister stressed that the National Institute of Teacher Welfare (Inabima) and the National Institute of Teacher Training (Inafocam), have focused on the development of teachers to improve the quality of education.
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Listin Diario
El Nacional
26 August 2019