The Actualización de Maestros en Educación (AME - Professional Development for Educators) Program of Fundación Cisneros offered specialized training to the teaching staff of the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police, who participated in the course Education, Human Development, Breaking the Poverty Cycle.
(La Romana, Dominican Republic, July 1, 2010)-- Today, Fundación Cisneros in conjunction with the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police of the Dominican Republic certified eleven (11) graduates of the Education, Human Development, Breaking the Poverty Cycle course of the Professional Development for Educators (AME) program, an educational initiative of Fundación Cisneros that offers free courses through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), regarding the curricular contents of elementary education.
The course, Education, Human Development, Breaking the Poverty Cycle imparts to teachers the knowledge and tools that will allow them to become agents of change that will contribute, through their work in the classroom, the school, and the local environment, to improve human development levels and to overcome poverty among the school population and the communities where the children and young students live. The course, which has been designed under the supervision of the Metropolitan University of Venezuela, has a four month duration and this is the second time it was imparted to the personnel of the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police.
The graduation ceremony had the participation of the personnel of Fundación Cisneros in the Dominican Republic, represented by its Vice President and Executive Director, William R. Phelan, and its Project Manager, Sofía Perazzo. On behalf of the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces, its General Director, Aviation Technical Col. Carlos R. Febrillet Rodríguez, and the Director of the School in La Romana, Colonel Marino Pacheco Varela, were in attendance, among other authorities. Other special guests also attended the event, such as representatives from Odebrecht.
Colonel Febrillet Rodríguez, on behalf of the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police, reiterated his gratitude to Fundación Cisneros for providing them access to these free development courses for educators that continue strengthening the strategic alliance which has been formed between both institutions for the development of educational programs that provide greater opportunities of professional development.
In turn, William R. Phelan expressed his satisfaction with this new group of educators who received their certificates and who are becoming examples to be followed by the generations of youths in training. He expressed that "our relationship with the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police is a productive alliance which has allowed us to not only share the success of those who have passed the courses, but to also motivate us to continue developing this type of joint initiative”
Since 2009, the Professional Development for Educators (AME) program of the Fundación Cisneros has certified 30 teachers at the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police of the Dominican Republic, and there are 23 new teachers currently enrolled in the regions of Santo Domingo, Moca and La Romana.
About the Fundación Cisneros
The Fundación Cisneros is a private, nonprofit organization established by Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Gustavo A. Cisneros, and presided by Adriana Cisneros de Griffin. The Fundación Cisneros is devoted to improving education throughout Latin America, and fostering global awareness of the continent’s heritage and its many contributions to world culture. In the long run, its innovative programs empower communities, promote freedom of speech, lay the basis for stable democracies, promote economic development, and enhance understanding among nations. The main educational programs of the Fundación Cisneros are: The Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Piensa en arte/Think Art, and Actualización de Maestros en Educación (Professional Development for Educators). These programs are implemented through local and strategic partnerships, and are part of the Corporate Social Responsibility vision of the Cisneros Group of Companies, aimed at fostering sustainable development and building social capital in the region.
About AME
Actualización de Maestros en Educación (AME – Professional Development for Educators) is an educational program of the Fundación Cisneros targeted to elementary education teachers in Latin America which offers free courses on basic curricula contents such as: reading and writing, mathematics, environment, health, ethics and values, information technology and conflict resolution, among others, through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). AME has created a virtual community that helps educators update their knowledge and skills, and use them in the classroom. Since its inception in 2003, over a thousand schools in Latin America have enrolled in the program, and more than 7,000 teachers have passed the courses.
AME has established partnerships with the public and private sectors in the countries where it is implemented. Currently, the program is present in 15 Latin American nations. AME is an innovative model for inclusion and building social capital in the region. The program has been recognized for Global Leadership in Ensuring Environmental Sustainability by the United Nations of the United States of America for its contribution to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
About the Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces and the National Police of the Dominican Republic Their mission is to provide officers corps, classes and members of the Armed Forces and the National Police with the necessary knowledge to enable them to exercise a productive trade, for when, for whatever circumstance, they cease to belong to their ranks and enter life as civilians, as well as the training of civilians with scarce economic resources who so desire it. To impart educational courses for the training of skilled labor and in this way, meet the demand for technicians required by the industrial sector. To create pedagogical programs that combine learning with theory and practice and accelerate the social and economic development of the country, through the education of technical professionals, having as a prime objective the integration of its graduates into the industrial development of the Dominican Republic. Currently, there are approximately 12 Vocational Schools of the Armed Forces spread throughout the whole country, which accommodate a large enrollment of students in their majority from the neediest areas of the country.