Santo Domingo.- The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Rafael Santos Badía, stated that the Dominican Republic needs to undertake a profound transformation of the education system, aimed at preparing the population “for life” and forming the human capital required to double the size of the economy by the year 2036.
He clarified that this initiative does not respond to a circumstantial governmental interest nor a merely curricular one, but rather to a vision of the State that must be built through consultation, dialogue, and national agreement.
Santos Badía explained that his statements were made in a context where some were unaware of the previous conversations he had held with the President of the Republic. He indicated that when he referred to the need to review the institutional structure of the sector, he did so in defense of a transformation that would free students from the “ordeal” of a 19th-century education applied in the midst of modernity.
Comparative law and clarification on the merger project
The official recalled that, in Latin America, 19 countries have only one Ministry of Education, and that only Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba manage higher education separately. Countries like Mexico, Spain, France, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay also have unified structures.
In the Spanish case, even with autonomous regimes, there is a central ministry that defines educational policy.
Likewise, he clarified that the merger project between Education and Higher Education was misinterpreted, as some thought that it was intended to finance higher education with the 4% of GDP allocated to Education, “
which was never considered“.
Santos Badía highlighted that in the country it is established that a child, at 45 days old, can enter a CAIPI, so the educational path begins from that early stage and extends to the higher technical level, degree or doctorate.
For that reason, he said, it is essential to build an articulated, coherent system with terminal outputs, which allows to recognize the levels achieved even by those who have not completed a cycle.
Curriculum modernization and technological challenges
He remembered that while the world debated the third scientific revolution, linked to the rise of information and digital technology, Asia seized the opportunity to transform its educational systems and economies.
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In contrast, we turned our backs on technological advancement,” he stated, citing that China began talking about artificial intelligence in 2012 and today is one of the most advanced powers in the world in that field.
In that context, he stated that the reform should begin by recovering essential learnings such as dictation, writing, reading comprehension, calligraphy, spelling, and a solid training in Spanish Language.
Towards a school for the next 40 years
The minister explained that the country is currently working on the preparation of an objective transformation project, aimed at designing the school of the next four decades, taking into account that multiple jobs will cease to exist due to the impact of science and technology.
He criticized the rigid structure of the current model, where “
everything must last ten months“, even though children learn at different speeds. In that sense, he questioned the effectiveness of students taking seven subjects per week, when there are more efficient andragogical methods that allow focusing on one subject per month.
A historical view of the system
Santos Badía recalled that, before the creation of the Ministry of Higher Education, this level did not depend on basic education, but on the university jurisdiction of the UASD. The growth of the sector made it necessary to create a governing body dedicated exclusively to higher education.
Finally, he reiterated that the goal is to build a unique, coherent educational system aimed at the same purpose, from CAIPI to doctorate, that allows the development of the human talent that the Dominican Republic requires to compete in a world marked by artificial intelligence, robotics, and scientific acceleration.
