Since the Executive power will propose, in 2024, the unification of the ministries of Higher educationScience and Technology (Mescyt), and Education (minerd), the debate around the implications that the integration of both entities would have still raises questions and warnings among educational experts.
He bill for your fusionsubmitted to the Senate on December 11, presents structural changes for the educational system, especially those that affect the budget of the minerd: with the distribution of 4% of GDP between primary, secondary and higher levels.
Opacity
Josefina Pimentelformer Minister of Education and director of Iglobal, explains that the project is a third version of two preliminary projects that have been circulating for a year. “The problem is that they do not respond to previous feasibility studies. There is a absence of diagnoses technical and open processes of real consultation about the technical, administrative, fiscal and financial implications of this proposal, which weakens its legitimacy,” he says.
Furthermore, for the political leader, there is governance difficulties because it only proposes the existence of a advisory boardwhich limits the deliberative nature that a body could have where a multiplicity of sectors of the society are integrated. higher education.
“The decision making would concentrate on the figure of the minister on duty. It is a proposal that seems to want to distribute part of the 4% within both subsystems, which could affect pre-university education,” observes Pimentel.
Reorganization
The most positive aspect of the proposal is to draw attention to the deficiencies of the current scheme, he considers Rolando Guzmanpast rector of the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (Intec). Even so, Guzmán says that the potential damage (which are many and became evident) outweigh the potential benefits (which were not even explained).
“Until now, none of the ministries have shown interest in a effective articulation between them, or between them and the Infotep. The articulation does not mean that the minerdMescyt and Infotep They must be a single entity. It means that they must function in a more unified way within a general qualification framework. That is a discussion that, unfortunately, we interrupted years ago. Now we could take it back, if it were to make decisions and not to entertain,” warns Guzmán.
Saving?
For David Alvarezformer academic vice-rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), this project may have luminous and critical aspects, but the savings possibility It remains in a kind of nebula and would depend on the way in which they articulate that integration, since it means that they would have another team dedicated to various topics.
“My main concern is that a model has been adopted in which institutions are treated as if they were minors. For example, they have to undergo a set of evaluations that allow them or not to have a certain degree of autonomy“says the expert.
On September 16, 2024, President Luis Abinader announced the unification of ministries and other state institutions as part of a second reform plan of his Government to “continue the restructuring and rationalization of the Public Administration.”
