Juan Pablo Duarte Magisterial Current denounces precarious conditions in the extended school day
The Juan Pablo Duarte Magisterial Current, an entity that is part of the Dominican Association of Teachers (ADP), has raised its voice to warn about the serious deficiencies that persist in the extended school day model in the country’s public educational centers. According to the organization, the lack of adequate infrastructure and logistical limitations prevent the system from achieving the proposed pedagogical objectives.
Menegildo De La Rosa, president of the movement, explained that many schools were originally designed to operate in two shifts and were adapted to the extended model without the necessary space expansions. This situation has led to marked overcrowding that affects both students and teachers, who face critical shortages in basic services such as restrooms, drinking water, and recreational areas.
The extended school day here is taking place under inhumane conditions. The school has ceased to be a place of attraction and joy to become a kind of prison where children feel like prisoners.
Menegildo De La Rosa, president of the Juan Pablo Duarte Magisterial Current
Distortion of the educational proposal
The organization maintains that the current model has moved away from its original vision, which contemplated the use of afternoon hours for extracurricular activities such as music, arts, sports, and technical training. By reducing these areas, the school day has been limited exclusively to academic teaching and meals, causing students to lose interest and motivation.
Economic demands and teacher well-being
During the assembly, the board denounced the withholding of more than RD$6 billion belonging to the teachers’ pension funds. Rafael Feliz, secretary general of the entity, stated that these resources correspond to contributions from some 4,951 teachers that are under the control of the Social Security Treasury and must be transferred to the National Institute for Teacher Welfare (Inabima).
In addition to financial aspects, the organization focused on the mental health of the teaching staff. After conducting an internal study, they detected worrying levels of stress, anxiety, and physical exhaustion, stemming from adverse working conditions in educational centers that lack decent spaces for teachers to rest.
Need for technological modernization
In the context of the digital age and artificial intelligence, the Magisterial Current underscored the urgency of modernizing public schools. Many centers lack computer, physics, and biology laboratories, preventing the effective implementation of modern educational approaches such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
- Infrastructure: Urgency to expand classrooms and improve basic services.
- Training: Need to integrate robotics and advanced technological tools.
- Competencies: Emphasis on improving reading comprehension and logical reasoning.
- Legal action: The organization will take the claim for pension funds to court.
A few days before the return to the classrooms, teacher representatives called on the Ministry of Education to prioritize these solutions. They insisted that a true educational transformation requires, in addition to will, a comprehensive investment that guarantees dignified environments and competitive tools for the new generation of Dominican students.
