The Regulations for Quality Teacher Training in the Dominican Republic (9-15) of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology – MESCyT – is the response that was understood as the most appropriate, to overcome one of the main causes of the so low quality of Dominican education.
As of 9-15, extraordinary investments have been made in teacher education and training, in just one year – it is worth repeating – it has reached more than 4,500 million pesos.
It happens that the main problem is not in the investment and the expectations about its auspicious results over time, it is more than that. When going to the origin, it is appropriate to examine after the recognition of the diagnostic part, if the design of the Education career is relevant.
The design that follows the diagnosis is logically the main component of the 9-15; that is, the solution that arises. It is what is called curricular design, of the Education career or study plan.
It consists of the set of subjects, their hourly loads or credits, and their intermediate or lateral exits if it has been conceived that way.
The lateral exit includes the so-called concentrations, specialties or mentions. Intermediate exits refer to the granting of a degree before completing the bachelor’s degree, such as technician, associate technician or professor.
The 9-15 does not have an intermediate exit and does have a lateral exit, with respect to the latter they are oriented towards various aspects of the degree in Education.
It can be affirmed, subject to further studies that delve into the matter, that the design of the Bachelor of Education does not correspond to the diagnosis and even less to the real needs and gaps of Teacher Training in the Dominican Republic.
The design of the Bachelor of Education does not resolve the vicious circle of the low quality of education that prevails at the pre-university level and is transferred and multiplied at the university level. Graduates and graduates are great ignorant “of what they do not teach.” They are led to a supposed specialization tied to a very low general education, one of the most serious problems.
Worse yet, is that the 9-15 as a response is closed to other types of designs or alternative approach; among its consequences, condemning at the same time the graduates – even the best talents – by way of a hasty specialization, not to enter the educational system due to the non-correspondence between the title and the potential vacancies.
Teacher Training a great problem of national education not yet resolved. Please give it the highest priority.
