INTEC Rector urges government and business authorities to contribute to access to quality and relevant education
Participating as a guest speaker during the most recent ITESA graduation, he highlighted the importance of technical training for the development of the country
SANTO DOMINGO. - The rector of Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Julio Sánchez Maríñez, highlighted the impact of technical education in the country and underlined the need to expand training opportunities in Dominican society, participating as a guest speaker during the most recent graduation of the Salesian Technical Institute (ITESA).
At the event in which 216 young people completed their training as basic and intermediate technicians, strengthening human resources in areas vital to national development, Sánchez Maríñez urged authorities and the private sector to redouble their efforts to guarantee access to quality and relevant education, which, in his opinion, represents a key investment for the productive and social development of the Dominican Republic.
In his speech, the rector of INTEC addressed a message to government authorities and civil society, especially the business sector, to “privilege investment and support in institutions and programs such as ITESA, which offer opportunities for quality and relevant education to young people, as well as to others not so young, to train not only academically and as citizens, but also occupationally or professionally, to be people with better capacities to solve their needs and those of their families, and to contribute productively and constructively to society.”
He pointed out that at a time when there is talk of quality in public spending, “of investment priorities, and we are stressed by the limitations of State revenues and the tightness of government budgets, today more than ever we must identify where the investment yields the most and best, whether in education, health, infrastructure or in any other area,” said the rector of INTEC.
Sánchez Maríñez stressed the value of ITESA as an emblematic institution in the Dominican educational system, emphasizing that, if there were more institutions of this type in all regions of the country, a better future for the nation could be assured.
He stressed that the private sector must support educational institutions such as ITESA through financing, equipment, linkages and employment opportunities for their graduates. He also highlighted the importance of expanding scholarship opportunities and financial support so that graduates can continue their studies and strengthen their skills.
Addressing the graduates, he shared advice from figures such as Frank Rainieri, a Dominican tourism entrepreneur, and Thomas Friedman, an American journalist and author, focusing on values such as vision, perseverance and effort. He invited the young people to "invent a new beginning to this important end" and to maintain an entrepreneurial attitude, with the commitment to contribute positively to the country and their families.
The INTEC rector concluded his speech with a message of congratulations and recognition to the graduates, who represent a generation of new technicians trained to contribute to the progress of the Dominican Republic in key sectors such as industrial mechanics, electrical installations, computer networks and systems, and application development, among others.
The main table of the graduation ceremony was presided over by Father Patricio Ramírez, director of the Obra María Auxiliadora; Father Ronny Stephan, outgoing director of ITESA; Maestro Henry Noel Rodríguez, educational director of the institution; Karmen Selter, director of the Kehtna Vocational Education Centre of Estonia, and representatives of the business and educational sector, who reinforced their support for the institution.