Santiago school year starts amid unfinished schools and missing spots

The start of the school year in Santiago, Dominican Republic, is overshadowed by community complaints about unfinished school buildings and students without enrollment spots. In the La Villa Olímpica sector, a school has been under construction for 11 years, with the cafeteria, administrative areas, and classroom building still incomplete Source: El Caribe. Miguel Jorge, president of the teachers' union in Santiago, listed several unfinished centers, including schools in Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and El Aguacate, and the UFE polytechnic Source: El Caribe.

Community frustration

In El Aguacate, about 90 children have been studying in a local church for four years after their school was demolished, but the church can no longer host classes due to upcoming religious and patron saint activities Source: Diario Libre. Residents say some students must walk over two kilometers to another school in Salamanca because school transport does not reach the community Source: Diario Libre. José Rafael Pichardo demanded that the Ministry of Education respond: "We want them to come here today and tell us what they will do with the community" Source: Diario Libre.

Government response

Alexis Sosa, regional director of the School Infrastructure Directorate (DIE), said corrective works are underway in dozens of schools in Santiago, and contracts have been awarded to intervene in 79 more plants, with renovations expected to be ready for the new school year Source: El Caribe. However, community members report that despite repeated visits from ministry representatives, no construction has begun in El Aguacate Source: Diario Libre. The discrepancy highlights the gap between official assurances and on-the-ground reality.