Hundreds of public school teachers took off Thursday, 22 August 2019 to march to the Ministry of Education and present demands. The president of the Dominican Public School Teachers Guild (ADP), Xiomara Guante said the teachers demand a recall of the Public School Teacher Assessment 2019. The teachers also want fewer teaching hours and a review of the content of the extended day programs. Also demanded is better maintenance works at schools.
The march began at Av. 27 de Febrero and the teachers walked south to the Ministry of Education on Av. Máximo Gómez.
In 2018 the Ministry carried out assessments to choose teachers for director positions by merit. The ADP rejected this. This year, the Ministry of Education required public school teachers to take a standardized test to assess their competencies for the jobs. Most teachers failed. The ADP now objects to the test. An editorial in Diario Libre criticizes the ADP position while it praises recent actions of the Ministry of Education to base promotions and hiring on merit.
School began nationwide in the Dominican Republic on Monday, 19 August 2019.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Diario Libre
N Digital
26 August 2019