Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. – The Dominican American Cultural Institute (ICDA) and the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo held the meeting “Progress that inspires: training, evidence, and collaboration to strengthen English teaching,” within the framework of the Working Table for the Advancement of English in the Dominican Republic.

The event, held in the ICDA Exhibition Hall, brought together representatives from government and private institutions, educators, and allies to share advances in teacher training and certification, learn about the results of research on English teachers, and explore collaboration opportunities.

The meeting was led by Chelsia Hetrick, Public Affairs Counselor of the United States Embassy; Enrique Fernández Malla, Executive Director of ICDA and Rector of the Dominican American University (UNICDA); Jesús Andújar Avilés, Executive Director of the Dominican Institute for Evaluation and Research of Educational Quality (Ideice); and Ancell Scheker, Deputy Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Services of the Ministry of Education (Minerd).

In her welcome remarks, Hetrick highlighted that the initiatives presented are the result of joint work by different organizations and their commitment to strengthening the capacities of those who teach English. She also proposed that the Table continue to be a platform to identify needs, connect capacities, and turn the exchange between institutions into concrete actions.

“None of these initiatives belong to a single institution. They have been possible because different organizations have brought knowledge, resources, experience, relationships, and willingness to the table,” she said.

During the meeting, it was highlighted that the Teacher Development Center of the Dominican American Cultural Institute and the Dominican American Cultural Center in Santiago obtained licenses to offer the SIT TESOL Certificate Course, a professional certification program for English teaching designed and accredited by World Learning / SIT Graduate School, a higher education institution accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).

These licenses strengthen the country’s capacity to offer teacher training and certification with international standards. As part of this progress, participants of the inaugural cohorts of the program, which includes approximately 180 hours of training, observation, teaching practice, feedback, and evaluation, were recognized.

For its part, Ideice presented the study “Profile and characteristics of English teachers in the pre-university public sector of the Dominican Republic and interventions that contribute to their training (2025),” carried out with the sponsorship of the United States Embassy, ICDA, and Minerd.

Andújar highlighted that this is the first official study aimed at understanding the profile and characteristics of English teachers in the pre-university public sector, and that it constitutes a starting point to continue researching the teaching and learning process of this language in the country in collaboration with the Dominican American University (UNICDA).

He noted that its findings invite strengthening competency diagnosis, offering training that responds to the different needs of teachers, and supporting them in applying what they have learned.

In his closing remarks, Fernández Malla expressed ICDA’s willingness to contribute its technical teams and evaluation experience to the efforts that Minerd must lead, with emphasis on capacity transfer and external validation of measurement instruments.

“English is not a curricular luxury. It is part of the human capital with which this country will compete, research, and communicate with the world,” he said. “Behind every percentage in this report is a teacher in front of a classroom. Our task is that they are not alone.”

During the meeting, the Dominican American Cultural Institute donated books to Minerd for use in schools. The donation was received by Ancell Scheker, Deputy Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Services, on behalf of the Ministry.

The meeting highlighted the contribution of teacher training, research, and inter-institutional cooperation to strengthening English teaching in the Dominican Republic.