Diario Libre coverage on the return to in-person learning at public schools puts in doubt the government will deliver on its announcement. The government has said in-person learning could begin in schools that are ready in 48 municipalities where the Covid-19 positivity rate is under 5%.
A report in the newspaper quotes professor Eduardo Hidalgo saying that the ministry has not conditioned the schools in areas that are cleared to re-open under a new protocol. Hidalgo said that the Ministry of Education has campaigned in social media to give the impression that all is normal, when the Ministry of Education has not provided the conditions public school teachers union is demanding for reopening schools. He told Diario Libre that the Ministry has had little contact with the 48 municipalities that are cleared to begin the restart. He said an assessment is in the works, but there is no date known for when the needed repairs at the schools would be completed. For schools to restart, the protocol establishes that a team of inspectors from the Ministry of Education needs to authorize the reopening.
Meanwhile, it is obvious that several private schools have resumed classes, especially at the pre-school level, even when they only have the authorization of the parents to do so and are not cleared by the Ministry.
The Ministry of Education under Education Minister Roberto Furcal has spent billions in distance learning programs and for the purchase of electronic devices for the students. Under pressure from parents organizations, Furcal announced that classes would resume in municipalities where the 4-week positivity rate was under 5% as of 6 April 2021.
Of the 32 provinces in the country, only in four are all the municipalities are included. These are Monte Plata, Samana, Pedernales and San José de Ocoa. In the province of Santo Domingo, San Antonio de Guerra and Pedro Brand are the only two municipalities where classes could be authorized to reopen.
The Ministry of Education has announced in-person learning would resume with early childhood and pre-school levels (children three months to five years old). Likewise, classes are authorized to resume for elementary school, with children up to eight years old. Also, graduate classes in technical and arts high schools will be allowed to resume in-person learning.
Parents of private schools are taking the Ministry of Education to court for delays in authorizing the reopening of in-person learning.
The PUCMM university, the largest private university in the Dominican Republic, says it will gradually resume in-person learning, starting 6 April.
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Diario Libre
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29 March 2021