Former Minister of Higher Education Ligia Amada Melo warns that the Ministry of Higher Education is about to lower the requirements to become a teacher in the public school system. Melo says the Ministry if it goes ahead and changes Norm 09-15 on the Program for Excellence in Teachers is giving in to the pressures of universities that seek volume and not quality in their graduates. An assessment in 2017 revealed that 73% of public school teachers performed below the basic levels.
Poor quality of teachers has been translating into poor quality of graduates of the public school system. The 2015 norm sought to change this with the higher requirements for contracting of public school teachers. René Piedra, a university professor at Intec, and advisor to the Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña (Isfodosu) concur with the former Minister of Higher Education that the amendment to the norm would result in graduating public school teachers with low proficiency levels.
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Diario Libre
9 November 2022