Educational Partnership Agreement Between GFDD/Funglode, Fundación Santillana, and Castilla y León Authorities

President of GFDD/Funglode, Dr. Leonal Fernández, has confirmed a triangular partnership agreement on education between the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode), the Ministry of Education of Castile and León, and the Fundación Santillana.

The agreement was made official during a meeting held by the former president, representing GFDD/Funglode; the Education minister of the Government of Castilla y León, Fernando Rey; and the general director
of the Fundación Santillana, Mariano Jabonero.

According to the agreement, the partnership should consist concretely of the provision of training materials and technical assistance by Castilla y León Ministry and the Fundación Santillana; joint organization of events by the three entities; and shared consciousness-raising, dissemination, visibility, and social incorporation and local implementation by GFDD/Funglode.

Speaking in a press conference after the signing of the three-way institutional agreement,
the Education minister of Castilla y León highlighted the enormous efforts made by the Dominican Republic to improve educational quality, after noting the significant contributions from former president of Fernández in that regard.

For his part, Fernández thanked the Castilla y León Education Ministry and the Fundación Santillana for their keenness to collaborate with the Dominican Republic on an issue as crucial to sustainable development as education quality.

The former head of state noted that most Dominicans already have access to the education system, in itself at great achievement, but now the great challenge to his country is to guarantee an education of high quality.

The three signees of the partnership agreement said they were aware of the strategic value of education for individual wellbeing, social development, and improvements to competitiveness and productivity in a strongly globalized economy. They
therefore place special emphasis on cooperation as the ideal means for successfully exchanging knowledge and experiences, sharing programs and projects, and improving quality and equity in education.

Of note is that the educational experience developed by the Board of Castile and León has achieved excellent results in external standardized evaluations like PISA, and features cutting-edge programs in areas such as teacher training initiatives, innovation, and inclusive
education, among others.

The three institutions have previous experience working together with agreements between the Castile and León Board and the Fundación  Santillana on the one hand, and the latter organization and GFDD/Funglode on the other.