Santo Domingo.–President Luis Abinader received this Wednesday the consolidated report with the results of the National Consultation on the Future of Dominican Education, a participatory process that brought together the contributions of more than 7,000 people from all over the country, and stated that this exercise marks the beginning of a new stage for the educational system, aimed at preparing new generations for the challenges of artificial intelligence, innovation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The president maintained that the consensus reached will serve as the basis for a long-term State policy and thanked the participation of former presidents Hipólito Mejía, Leonel Fernández and Danilo Medina, who collaborated in the process through their representatives, as well as citizens, educational institutions, universities, social organizations and representatives of the productive sector.

The event, held in the Carlos Piantini Room of the Eduardo Brito National Theater, also served to reaffirm the commitment assumed by President Abinader on February 27 to promote a profound educational transformation as a national cause and not only as a government initiative.

"This consultation has not been to look at the past. It has been to build the future. We live in a time of extraordinary changes and the school cannot continue preparing our young people for a world that no longer exists; it must prepare them for the world that is coming," he expressed.

The head of state stated that the country needs an education that strengthens reading, writing, mathematics and science, but also teaches how to think, create, solve problems, work as a team and learn throughout life, without losing sight of training in values.

Convert investment into quality

The president recognized that, although the country has increased investment in education and has better infrastructure, school meals, technology, books and better conditions for teachers, the great challenge remains to transform these resources into better learning results.

"We all know that investing more does not, by itself, guarantee better results. The great challenge is to convert that investment into quality, so that every peso allocated to education translates into better learning, greater opportunities and a more promising future for our children and young people," he stated.

Likewise, he pointed out that educational transformation must guarantee opportunities for everyone, including students with special needs, people who dropped out of school and adults who require new skills to respond to the transformations in the labor market.

A long-term state policy

The president assured that the educational transformation will be supported by dialogue, consensus and a long-term vision, with the purpose of transcending government periods and always placing students at the center of decisions.

"With this transformation and with this new educational model, the Dominican Republic assumes a clear goal: to be a protagonist and beneficiary of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and never a victim of it. We want our young people to lead the changes that are coming, generate innovation and find in knowledge the main tool to build a more prosperous, competitive and fair country," he stated.

President Abinader concluded by reaffirming his commitment to promoting education capable of multiplying human talent, considering that it will be the main engine to achieve national development and the goal of doubling the size of the Dominican economy by 2036.

Comprehensive transformation of the educational system

The Minister of Education, Luis Miguel De Camps, highlighted that the National Consultation on the Future of Education represents the collective expression of a country that decided to reflect on the main challenge for its development: guaranteeing quality education.

"The results of the consultation send a clear message: Dominican society is not asking to solve isolated problems, but rather to promote a profound transformation of the entire educational system. Today the great challenge is not only to guarantee access to schools, but to ensure relevant learning that prepares each student to function in an increasingly complex society," he stated.

De Camps added that the greatest value of the process was building a national meeting point that allows converting the consensus reached into sustainable public policies.

“Talking about the future of education implies consolidating a pact that supports a true State policy, capable of converting listening into decisions, decisions into public policies, and those policies into concrete results that reach each student, teacher, and educational center in the Dominican Republic,” he expressed.

Articulation between different educational levels

For his part, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Rafael Santos Badía, stated that the results strengthen the articulation between pre-university education, higher education, technical-professional training, science, technology and innovation, fundamental pillars to promote sustainable development and increase the country's competitiveness.

The Minister of Public Administration, Sigmund Freund, valued the consultation as an exercise in participatory governance that strengthens democratic institutions by incorporating proposals from different social sectors.

“The construction of public policies is more solid when it integrates the voices of citizens and promotes agreements aimed at the development of the country,” he expressed.

The general director of the National Institute of Professional Technical Training (Infotep), Maira Morla, thanked the broad participation of students, teachers, families, businessmen, workers, churches, media, former ministers and the Dominican diaspora, highlighting that their contributions made possible the construction of a shared vision on the future of education.

"The results of this consultation reflect the consensus of society around three fundamental pillars: quality, relevance and dignity. The transformation that the country needs is built by listening, dialoguing and participating, because an education connected to life, values ​​and work is the basis for responding to the development and prosperity aspirations of the Dominican Republic," said Morla.

The report consolidates the results of one of the broadest citizen participation processes carried out in the country to define the future of education, with the contributions of more than 7,000 people belonging to the educational system, academia, the productive sector, social organizations, families and the Dominican diaspora.

The results reflect a shared vision of the strategic role of education as a driver of national development, highlighting its contribution to the generation of opportunities, the strengthening of productivity, innovation, citizen training and the construction of a society with higher levels of well-being and inclusion.

These consensuses will serve as a basis for the formulation of public policies and for the elaboration of a new General Law of Education, Science and Technology.

The event brought together ministers, civil and military authorities, representatives of the educational, business, union, academic and religious sectors, international organizations and civil society organizations, who learned about the main results of this exercise of national participation.

With this National Consultation, the Government reaffirms its commitment to promoting a broad, plural and permanent dialogue that allows citizens' proposals to be converted into concrete actions to transform Dominican education, recognizing that this challenge constitutes a collective task and a priority for the sustainable development of the country.