services to intervene in the initial education of young children living
in poverty. The ministry’s collaboration with the World Bank is mak-
ing this possible and, together, the ministry and the Bank have met
and responded to many challenges in launching the initial effort.
The Competitive Fund for Educational Innovations is “opening the
doors” of the Ministry of Education to the civil society to better meet
the needs of children ages 0–5 years. If proven successful, the min-
istry’s experience with this fund may well lead to improved guidelines
and policies for ECD interventions and programs in the future.
Web Resources [as of November 2006]
Secretaría de Estado de Educación [Ministry of Education] [in
Spanish]: <www.see.gov.do>
Fondos Concursables para Innovaciones Educativas [Competitive
Fund for Educational Innovations] [in Spanish]: <www.see.gov.do/
sitesee/fondos%20concursables/fondos.htm>
232 Clara Baez and Guadalupe Váldez