The Dominican Republic has a new minister of Education since mid-August 2022. Angel Hernandez has pledged to turn around the dire situation affecting public education. He takes over from his predecessor, Roberto Furcal, appointed from day one of the Abinader administration, but whose management has been the most criticized in the history of the Ministry of Education.
In a report on 11 October 2022, Diario Libre cites the ECLAC and UNICEF’s findings that only 54.6% of public school third-grade students have minimum reading skills, and only 50.9% in mathematics. In 2013, the levels were 58.5% and 50.9%. This is despite the Dominican government injecting billions in public education. The Ministry of Education since 2016 has been allocated 4% of GDP for its budget, the largest of all government ministries.
In a feature in Listin Diario, former Minister of Economy of the past Danilo Medina administration, Juan Ariel Jimenez points out the Dominican Republic is ranked at the bottom of the PISA standardized tests. He provides recommendations to turn the situation around. The Danilo Medina administration doubled public investment in public education since start in 2016, but the results in the learning of the students did not pay off.
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Diario Libre
Listin Diario
11 October 2022