Caribbean Review: MINERD: Hope or Hindrance for the Dominican Republic
Maciej Czekajewski
According to UNESCO, around 90% of children with disabilities in developing nations do not attend school. In the Dominican Republic, 92.4% of children with disabilities between the ages of 5 and 21 have no access to appropriate educational resources affixed or tailored to their specific needs. This highlights the dire need in Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean, resulting in a population that lacks viable solutions.
Children who do not attend school
A Nationally Inclusive Program
However, a bright spot has emerged as the Dominican Republic is leading the way on education policy in the Caribbean and Latin America in a breakthrough national initiative called the National Inclusive Educational Model for Students who are Deafblind and with Multiple Disabilities in the Dominican Republic. Partnered with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Foundation ONCE for Latin America (FOAL) and Perkins School for the Blind, the program has a new standard within the Caribbean, being the first of its kind, giving access to thousands of students with multiple disabilities.
Currently in the Dominican Republic, the education system receives minimal funding and lacks the necessary support to fulfill every Dominican child’s right to education. Concerns by stakeholders, such as Professor Juan Valdez, the Executive Director of the Dominican Educational Observatory, point to a lack of resources, degrading infrastructure, lack of teacher training and disparities in access to public and private education as the root causes of a weakening system. As 68% of children with disabilities complete a primary education in the Dominican Republic compared to 83% of their able peers, The National Inclusive Educational Model represents an opportunity for the Dominican Republic to become an expanding hub for equal access to education.
As an emerging center for disability education, the Dominican Republic has faced a series of societal challenges—including the stigmatization of disabilities, limited representation of disabled voices, and restricted access to employment opportunities stemming from educational inequities MINERD’s model is a pioneering force in the landscape of education not only because it champions those who are visibly and audibly impaired and with multiple disabilities but because of its innovative, inclusive and human rights-focused approach to providing educational opportunities. Education leaders such as Director of Regional Education, Marieta Díaz, emphasize that the initiative offers a new opportunity for disabled individuals to gain dignity by working for a living, completing their technical training and integrating back into the workforce a testament to the revolutionary concept that promises a new wave of disabled-conscious education programs in the Caribbean.
Critics of MINERD’s Promise
MINERD’s new program has been met with wide-ranging hope and promise from civil society organizations and the disabled community alike but has also faced some criticism in terms of the practical applications of the program. Coupled with inadequate infrastructure to support disabled persons, the Dominican Republic’s education system requires a significant increase in educators with special needs training to sufficiently power the ambitions of the National Inclusive Program. For example, at the Taíno school teachers were left to guess which students had discipline issues and which had special needs without the presence of necessary professional guidance. Samuel, a student from Taíno school even highlights that, “It’s important that you know how to identify them with the help of counselors, psychologists, and all that.”
In 2015, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities criticized the nascent program for relying too heavily on non-governmental organizations and civil society to achieve its objectives. Detrimentally, the committee found that discrimination and societal stigma experienced by disabled persons are deeply rooted in Dominican society, meaning that overcoming these challenges would require either a dramatic cultural transformation or the implementation of a program like the one proposed.
While critics warn that partnering with civil society could leave important programs solely in the hands of overlapping organizations, it is overly harsh to dismiss a program that is truly pioneering. While it's essential to apply due diligence when evaluating reviews from international organizations, such critiques can sometimes verge on discouragement, potentially undermining efforts to improve the education system. For context, there exists no regional parallel for MINERD’s National Inclusive Program in the Caribbean, presenting the prospects that it could be used as a model for other nations maintaining similar challenges and disabled populations with nowhere to go.
MINERD’s National Inclusive Program stands uniquely in that it is an initiative launched by a government department and supported by important stakeholders in civil society with connections and roots in the area of focus. In comparison to Jamaica, another nation in the Caribbean with a significant population of deaf people at 54,000, their approach is almost based solely on support work that originates from civil society and faith-based organizations like, Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf and Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf. While this approach seems fitting due to a possible lack of capacity from the Jamaican government or the entrenched mindset of tradition within Jamaica concerning the duty of these schools, disabled children still find themselves having to separate from their families due to the lack of geographic access.
At its core, MINERD’s National Inclusive Program represents a paradigm shift to the standing of disabled persons within the national psyche of the Dominican Republic. While many disabled children have found it difficult to attend school without the societal stigma of their innate conditions haunting them in their quest for an education, MINERD has stepped in to find sustainable solutions and expand access for these children. Critics might doubt the possible success this program might have because of poor existing infrastructure and an overreliance on civil society but more focus should be paid to expanding the talent pool for educators with special education training. If the Caribbean is to serve its disabled populations with the dignity and care they deserve, MINERD must not just be a pioneering force but a model shared with other nations.
