ADP acknowledges slight progress in PISA, but warns that the country remains lagging behind

Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Association of Teachers (ADP) considered that the PISA 2025 results show a slight advance for the Dominican Republic compared to previous evaluations, although it warned that the country remains lagging behind and faces significant challenges to improve learning.

“We must acknowledge that we have made progress, even if only slightly. We cannot turn an advance into a defeat, but we cannot settle either, because we are still lagging behind and occupy one of the last places among the countries in the region,” stated Menegildo De La Rosa, Secretary of Communications and Public Relations of the ADP.

The teacher leader highlighted as a positive element the students’ appreciation of their teachers’ work, recognizing the teachers’ interest in their learning, their willingness to continue explaining until understanding is achieved, and the additional help they provide when needed.

“It is important that the work of our teachers is recognized. There is a high regard from the student body for their teachers, and that is also part of the PISA results; therefore, one cannot attempt to hold the teaching profession exclusively responsible for the weaknesses of the system,” maintained De La Rosa.

De La Rosa pointed out that the results do not surprise the ADP either, because for more than five years the union has been demanding better infrastructure conditions, greater investment in resources and teaching materials, as well as a review of educational programs from the Ministry of Education.

“What we are seeing confirms the demands that the ADP has been making for more than five years: improving infrastructure, increasing investment in resources and teaching materials, reviewing programs, and contextualizing the curriculum so that it responds to the Dominican reality,” he explained.

The ADP also raised the need to strengthen teacher training through greater investment in master’s degrees, doctorates, and specializations in specific areas, while calling for a review of teaching methods and placing reading comprehension and logical reasoning back at the center.

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“Our main concern must be how we improve reading comprehension and logical reasoning. Those are two of our fundamental weaknesses, and that is where educational policies, teacher training, and resources must be directed,” indicated De La Rosa.

For teachers, the discussion should not be reduced to presenting the results as a failure, but rather it should become a challenge to ask themselves what is working, what needs to be corrected, and how much more must be invested to guarantee better learning.

Finally, the teachers’ organization called for avoiding both triumphalism and alarmism in the interpretation of the PISA results and to embrace them as an opportunity to correct the structural weaknesses of the educational system.