The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Ministerio de Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología'' or ''MESCYT'') of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

is a

government institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

that regulates

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

in the country as well as research, grants and technology. It originated from a commission to modernize the Dominican government and it was officially created as the ''Secretaría de Estado de'' ''Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología'' on 2001. The current minister is

Franklin García Fermín Franklin García Fermín (San Francisco de Macorís, 17 January 1957) is a Dominican Republic, Dominican jurist and professor from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and its Rector (academia), Rector for 2008-2011 period. Biography He w ...

, who assumed office on August 16, 2020. Its headquarters are located at

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

History

Higher education in the Dominican Republic

The history of

in the

goes back to

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

. The first academic center was founded by Dominican friars in 1518 and it would later be elevated to a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

by the

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

''In Apostolatus Culmine'' of October 28, 1538. This was St. Thomas Aquinus University (

: ''Real y Pontificia Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino''). This institution closed on 1801 when the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo became part of the French Empire. Higher education was restored on 1815 by writer and politician

José Núñez de Cáceres José Núñez de Cáceres y Albor (March 14, 1772 – September 11, 1846) was a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican revolutionary and writer. He is known for being the leader of the first Dominican independence movement against Spanish E ...

, who was elected rector of the institution. He was responsible of declaring the Ephemeral Independence of 1821, which saw the beginning of the Haitian occupation of the Spanish side and the closing of the university. Between 1866 and 1891, the Professional Institute (''Instituto Profesional'') had some of the functions of the nonexistent University. The Professional Institute reappeared on 1895. On November 16, 1914, it was transformed into the

University of Santo Domingo A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(''Universidad de Santo Domingo''). This institution temporarily closed during the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1924). On December 31, 1961, by the Law no. 5778, the center acquired its autonomy, renaming itself as the

Autonomous University of Santo Domingo In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

(''Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo''). The first autonomous authorities were elected in February 1962.

History of the institution

The origin of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology comes from the Commission to Reform and Modernize the Nation (''Comisión para la Reforma y Modernización del Estado'') from 1966. One of its objectives was to reorganize the National System for Science and Technology (''Sistema Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología''). This commission concluded that it was a necessity to create an institution that could manage the scientific and technological activities, as well as everything relating to

and

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. As a result, the Dominican government signed the creation of the Secretary of State of Higher Education, Science and Technology (''Secretaría de Estado de'' ''Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología'') on 2001, by the Law no. 139–01. It adopted its current name, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (''Ministerio de Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología''), after the 2010

Constitutional reform A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...

and the subsequent Decree no. 56-10 which changed the names of all

government agencies A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, ...

. It is generally known by its acronym, MESCyT.

Internal structure

As all other Ministries of the Dominican Republic, the MESCyT is subdivided into viceministries. These are: * Administrative-Financial Viceministry * Viceministry of Higher Education * Viceministry of Science and Technology * Viceministry of Evaluation and Certification * Viceministry of International Relations Other offices of lower rank are: * Grants Office * Foreign Languages Office * Information Technology Office * Communications Office

References

{{Reflist

External links