Teachers say they were “duped,” demand resumption of English classes

Santo Domingo.- Language teachers of 134 schools and polytechnics in Santo Domingo province yesterday asked the new Education minister Carlos Amarante to resume the high school program in English, halted in the past school year, and said it’s the course in the education system which most benefits students.

The project began as a pilot program in the 10th Education Region and during three years benefited around 72,000 students who completed the first three years of high school, but was interrupted without any explanation in the 2012-2013 school year.

They said the program’s real achievements would’ve been seen in the last year, because of its four basic levels and planned to insert the technical area with specific books on tourism and English for calling centers.

The group of teachers, quoted by Listin Diario, announced their push to bet the program resumed in the next school year.

"We were duped because we understood that our young technical graduates were going out, that would be inserted immediately into the workplace, but since it was paralyzed, the target wasn’t achieved," said the English teacher Edita de la Cruz Garcia.

Her colleague Guadalupe Sigarán said: "for the students English went from the most hated subject to the more passionate."

"A student has to go to a private school to receive a class in English and pay thousands of dollars and were getting them for free, with success," said the teacher Martires Gonzalez.