The Ministry of Education is giving details of the new guidelines for the 2020-2021 school year. Schools in the Dominican Republic had closed on 12 March for the municipal election, but then did not reopen while most continued with online instruction. The Ministry of Education later ruled that those that had 70% grade average at the time of the closure would pass. Others would need to take remedial classes.
The new protocols in place for education call for a new normal for the school year. Schools are being asked to organize students in two groups, alternating between receiving classes in the school and doing classwork at home. Each classroom can only hold a maximum of 20 students plus the teacher.
In public schools with classes until 4pm, the groups will be organized from 8am to 12:30pm, and from 1 to 4pm.
The Ministry of Education says that teacher training in online Internet teaching technologies is being stepped up.
The start of classes will be done in a progressive manner. Students in districts with the lowest rate of infection and high school students that need to prepare for the standardized national test will start in the first week. Students from the pre-school and elementary levels and adult education students will start in week two. Special education students are scheduled to start in week three.
The protocols include arranging seats and tables at a distance of 1.5 meters on all four sides. Visits to schools are restricted. During the flag-raising ceremony and recess, students will likewise need to keep the distance rule.
The authorities have arranged for teachers, administrative and support staff and students to wear masks from the time they leave their homes, during their stay at school and on their return home.
All entering the school will be screened for their temperatures, and hand gel will be available for disinfecting. Students and staff are being told to avoid hand greetings, hugs, group formation and games during recess. Upon arrival, the afternoon students and their teachers will be organized in lines, meeting the required distance between each other, and will proceed to wash their hands and enter the dining room for lunch.
In the classrooms, it is recommended that doors and windows be kept wide open. When there are changes of teachers by subject, students will be prevented from moving around in groups.
Likewise, frequent hand washing routines are recommended, between classes or every two class periods.
Teachers will orient their students to take off and disinfect their uniforms for washing and to disinfect their shoes upon their return home.
The protocols call for daily or twice a day disinfecting of the schools.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Ministry of Education
11 June 2020