U.S. Embassy to invest US$75,000 in MESCyT English immersion program

Santo Domingo.- The U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo and the Instituto Cultural Domínico-Americano (ICDA) held the third meeting of the Working Group for the Advancement of English in the Dominican Republic, in which teachers, administrators, and other key leaders of Dominican society related to English language teaching collaborate.

This last meeting featured keynote remarks by Franklin García Fermín, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, Patricia Aguilera, who announced that the U.S. Embassy will invest US$75,000.00 to MESCyT for the English Immersion program.

This investment will be dedicated to the hiring of U.S. experts to provide accompaniment, teacher training, and design didactic materials for the success of this program.

This working group is a collaboration platform for these key actors to continue strengthening the quality of English language teaching at the national level through high-impact projects.

The theme of the meeting “The Role of Higher Education in the Quality of English Language Teaching” was presented by Miguel Mariñez, with the participation of English teachers and technicians from the public and private sectors from different educational regions.

In her opening remarks, Aguilera, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy emphasized that “we want to continue working to reduce the socioeconomic inequality gap by empowering young people through education, specifically in English, and working closely with key partners”.

He also indicated that “the U.S. Embassy will invest US$75,000.00 in the English Immersion Program developed by MESCyT and will provide U.S. experts to provide support, teacher training, and develop teaching materials for the success of this program”.

García Fermin highlighted the importance of English from different perspectives. In his words, he emphasized that “this language [English] favors universities that promote and develop advanced English programs, because it is a plus that places them in important positions in national and international evaluations”.

According to a note from the embassy, this profitable meeting highlighted the investment of the U.S. government in Dominican education through the teaching of English, a positive impact on the economic progress of the country. To date, the Ministry of Education (MINERD), the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCyT) and other government institutions and educational NGOs have invested more than US$1.5 million in teacher training programs, materials development and other projects.

The English Working Group is composed of representatives of the ICDA, the Instituto Técnico Superior Comunitario, the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, APEC University, the Instituto Nacional para la Capacitación y Formación del Magisterio (INAFOCAM), Universidad Pedro Henriquez Ureña (UNPHU), and other local institutions and the industrial sector, the Contact Center Cluster and BPOs.

Working Table for the Advancement of English

This is a high-level initiative of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo together with the Dominican-American Cultural Institute to connect relevant institutions in the dialogue of English language teaching in the Dominican Republic in the public, private and civil society sectors, through periodic meetings with collaborative activities. This Working Group promotes initiatives to continue supporting the work of teachers to ensure that every Dominican student can learn English for their personal and professional development.