Integración Juvenil - Improved Education for Deprived Children

On a recent visit to the Dominican Republic, WER Chief Executive Alex Haxton was present for the launch of the new Integración Juvenil City Centre Programme.

Integración Juvenil (IJ), located in Puerto Plata was established in 1978 by a group of local women who were concerned about the hardships faced by children growing up in the extensive slums in and around the city the project provided a safe place at their Munoz centre for young people to help them escape street culture and participate in classes such as woodwork and basic literacy

WER have been working with IJ for 7 years and in that time have seen major improvements and expansion of their programme.

Now, instead of providing basic workshops, IJ provides a nationally recognised, accredited education programme that aims to bring children into mainstream education or where this is not possible to provide education themselves. In many cases children who have attended the programme are able to be integrated into the state education system and attend conventional schools.

To facilitate this involves more than just the three Rs. IJ also have a team of social workers and psychiatrists who work alongside the teachers enabling children to develop the necessary behavioural and emotional skills for success in education. IJ now support 340 children in 3 different locations across Puerto Plata.

WER’s most recent visit to IJ coincided with the opening on 14th May 2009 of the new City Centre Programme. This new centre is housed in a building donated by WER with restoration costs coming from a combination of the DR department of education and IJ’s own resources.

The aim of the City Centre Programme is to improve the educational opportunities of children in difficult circumstances by forming a team of social workers, psychiatrists and teachers who have developed strategies to draw in the children, enrol them on the programme and support the integration process of 60 new pupils, who at the end of the year will be ready to be integrated into the formal education system.

Amongst the strategies is the creation of a support committee and a social audit committee which works with families in the community alongside six educational social workers.

IJ have also signed agreements with the Ministry of Art and Culture and the Regional Hotel Association, both of which have guaranteed their support for the City Centre Programme. These historic agreements mean that it will be the local community that acts as the primary supporter of the centres.

Commenting on the profound effect the project has had on the lives of local children, Alex Haxton said: “The work that Integración Juvenil has done means that the local community is beginning to see all the local children as a communal responsibility, a gift rather than a problem, including those children that live in terrible conditions in slums and on the streets. This is obviously good for the children themselves, but also for the community at large. Through this collective responsibility they are bringing themselves closer together."