During a televised debate on when in-person learning could resume in the Dominican Republic, Deputy Education Minister Ligia Pérez could not give any dates, certainty or parameters over when the Ministry of Education would authorize in-person learning. She just said “it could happen this school year.”
Pérez said the Ministry of Education depends on the Ministry of Public Health clearing the reopening. She admitted they are studying when and where to reopen. She said they are assessing the geographical areas where the spread is low and the possibility of reopening by different levels – preschool, elementary, high school, universities.
Xiomara Guante, president of the Dominican Public Schools Association (ADP), said some public schools could reopen and there are even some that have some form of in-person learning programs. Yet, the official position of the ADP is that there are not conditions for schools to reopen. She said hundreds of schools have serious infrastructure problems that need to be resolved before reopening. Guante says the ADP had alerted of the problems in 2019, before the pandemic. In Latin America, with the exception of Nicaragua, schools have reopened even in countries with high spread of the disease such as Brazil and Colombia.
Schools in the Dominican Republic closed in early March 2020 for the municipal elections, and remained closed after the pandemic was declared. The 2019-2020 school year concluded with online classes and the passing of most students. For the 2020-2021 school year, distance learning model via TV classes and Internet has been the norm. The government is making a billionaire investment to provide laptops and tablets for students and teachers in the public system.
While the Ministry says they are studying different scenarios and protocols, representatives of private schools say many private schools are ready to voluntarily and gradually resume in-person learning following internationally accepted protocols. But they have not found receptivity in the Ministry of Education that continues to order the schools only offer distance learning programs.
Gabriela Porello, of the Collective of Parents for In-Person Education explained on the TV program that the Ministry of Education has never received them. Darwin Caraballo of the Educa project said the mental and emotional, physical and spiritual health of children is at risk now. He said the Dominican Republic has good weather all year round, and outdoor activities are recommended. He said the DR needs to take advantage of the pandemic to move ahead for quality education. He urged the reopening of in-person learning at schools that meet international and national criteria.
TV host Mariasela Alvarez highlighted that the World Health Organization has insisted that schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen in a pandemic.
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Esta Noche con Mariasela
10 February 2021