Dajabón, DR.– The Director of School Infrastructure of the Ministry of Education, Roberto Herrera, led an extensive supervision day in educational centers in Dajabón as part of the Christmas in the Classrooms program, which uses the vacation period to execute maintenance, refurbishment, construction, and completion of works in school facilities. Christmas in the Classrooms was designed to take advantage of the absence of students in order to intervene in the facilities more swiftly.
Goals and scope of the intervention
According to the entity’s management, the supervision seeks to accelerate the delivery of schools under construction with the governmental goal of 2,000 new classrooms by the end of December; furthermore, it was reported that around 250 school facilities are receiving attention throughout the national territory. The Christmas in the Classrooms program aims to integrate these classrooms into the educational system to guarantee functional and safe spaces.
Works reviewed in the province
During the tour, the construction of classroom and workshop buildings at the San Ignacio de Loyola Technological Institute (ITESIL), the Nordeste Basic School, the Special Education Center, and the Madre Gertrudis Castañer School (Fe y Alegría), among other schools, was inspected. The visit concluded at the Hipólito Biliini Primary School, which will be relocated because it is close to a cemetery, an example of logistical decisions that accompany the works of the Christmas in the Classrooms program.
Evaluation of unfinished works and bidding processes
The head of the DIE detailed that, in parallel, educational centers that have been unfinished for years are being evaluated and a bidding process has already been initiated to guarantee the completion of these pending works. “We are assuming the responsibility that corresponds to us so that these projects are finally completed and put at the service of the educational community,” the official stated during the supervision of the Christmas in the Classrooms program.
Technical team and local actors
The entourage was composed of engineers and regional coordinators: Hipólito García (Cibao-Northwest Zone), Rigoberto Cabrera (Santiago Rodríguez), Aurelio Torres (provincial coordinator of Dajabón), Yaqui Ortiz (regional manager of Dajabón and Montecristi), Robert Ovalles (Educational District 09-06), and Ana Margarita López (Educational District 13-04). Institutional and community representatives linked to school management also participated.
- Central objective: complete works and add classrooms to the school cycle.
- Interventions: maintenance, refurbishment, construction, and relocation when necessary.
- Follow-up: initiated biddings for unfinished works.
“We are engaged in a supervision task for the Christmas in the Classrooms program, taking advantage of the fact that the children are on vacation to execute works that are more complex during the school period,” expressed the director of the DIE.
The supervision in Dajabón is part of the national strategy that seeks to deliver the 2,000 promised classrooms and attend to the 250 identified facilities, consolidating the reach of the Christmas in the Classrooms program in communities affected by unfinished works and infrastructure needs.