Teaching is the key axis to transform the education system, says Luis Miguel De Camps

Santo Domingo.- The Minister of Education, Luis Miguel De Camps, affirmed that the true transformation of the Dominican educational system occurs when the teacher is well-trained, supported, and valued, by placing the teaching profession as the decisive factor within the five pillars that guide institutional management and the Continuous Improvement Roadmap of the pre-university public system.

During the graduation ceremony of the Doctorate in Education Sciences at the Universidad Católica Nordestana (UCNE), De Camps framed his statements within the strategic vision defined by President Luis Abinader, who has established quality education as a priority for national development.

“It is not a symbolic declaration; it is a line of action that we assume and execute from the Ministry with responsibility,” he added.

He explained that educational management is structured around five pillars: students as the center of the system; families as the first formative community; civil society as a strategic ally; public servants as those responsible for efficient administration; and teachers as the determining axis of any real improvement.

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“We can design policies, modernize structures, or introduce administrative improvements; but true transformation occurs when the teacher is well-trained, supported, and valued”, expressed De Camps, while highlighting that the strengthening of the teaching profession is not an accessory component, but the basis of a sustainable reform. The Minister valued the graduation of the first cohort of the Doctorate in Education Sciences as a strategic investment in advanced human capital, aimed at generating scientific knowledge that contributes to transforming practices in the classrooms. The program was led by the Universidad Católica Nordestana in consortium with the Universidad Abierta Para Adultos (UAPA), the Universidad Católica del Cibao (UCATECI) and the Universidad Tecnológica del Cibao Oriental (UTECO), an articulation that, he said, demonstrates institutional maturity and a shared vision on the role of education in the country's development. Furthermore, he highlighted the support of the National Institute for Teacher Training and Capacity Building (INAFOCAM) to most of the graduates, as part of a sustained effort to strengthen the advanced training of teachers. "Investing in teacher professional development is a strategic decision, not circumstantial", De Camps emphasized. In representation of the graduates, Heydi María Fernández stated that with this doctorate they assume three major challenges: to ensure that innovation maintains the human face of learning, to ensure that digitalization reaches all sectors without exception, and that their research generates real changes in the institutions. For his part, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Rafael Santos Badía, invited the new doctors to collaborate in the process of transformation of Dominican education, helping to improve the new curriculum oriented to the knowledge that can be applied.