Santo Domingo Este.– The
Santiago Hirujo Sosa Basic School (mirror), in Cancino Adentro, has become a symbol of institutional abandonment. Started in 2012 with the promise of providing
24 classrooms for more than 600 students in extended hours, the work has gone through three presidential periods, two presidents, several Ministers of Education and different contractors, but remains unfinished.
The structure, located on Antonio Guzman street in the aforementioned sector, has white-painted walls, but is invaded by mud and weeds. Without windows, doors or furniture, the school is far from fulfilling its objective: to open educational opportunities and close the school gap in a community that suffers from a
critical lack of places.
Dauri Adames Díaz, president of the Parents and Friends of the School Society, lamented that after more than ten years “our children still do not have a decent space to learn. This abandoned construction is an open wound for the entire community.” He also denounced that the access road is deteriorated and impassable, and that the area remains in darkness due to lack of lighting.
Meanwhile, students must travel long distances to attend already overcrowded schools or, in the worst case, stay at home. The principal of the main center, Carmen del Villar, explained that the classrooms exceed 50 students per class and that there is a shortage of teachers in essential areas such as Early Childhood Education, Physical Education, Languages and the first cycle, as well as cleaning staff.
The teacher recalled that this center was the first to win a contest to opt for the extended schedule within the
Educational Revolution plan of the previous administration, but that the lack of the mirror school has prevented its implementation. “The construction is advancing at a snail’s pace”, she denounced.
In 2022, after the eviction of illegal occupants by the General Directorate of Migration, the authorities promised to resume the works.
The community now demands the
immediate intervention of the Ministry of Education to finish the work, assign its official name, and open its doors. “What we have is not a school, it’s a monument to broken promises,” the neighbors stated.
