This Thursday, May 11, 2023, he was invested Honorary Doctor Cause by the Distance University of Madrid, UDIMA, Dr. Franklin García Fermín, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Dominican Republic, who in his speech emphasized technological advances and their repercussions, such as artificial intelligence that , he warned, “dizzyingly shake the social, cultural, political, economic and educational foundations.” Proof of this is also the implementation in education of the so-called revolution 4.0, nanotechnology or chatGPT.
framed these reflections on innovation as a source of inspiration and engine of change to point out, on the other hand, that “this spirit of educational innovation, vital to guarantee quality education, adapted to the needs of the cybernetic changes that we are experiencing” is, however, “threatened” by what The last World Economic Forum in Davos already called a “polycrisis”.
A sum of crises in different areas, he continued, in the face of which “education in values” is more necessary than ever as a generator of “balanced people capable of making correct, responsible and ethical decisions.” In this sense, during his speech he encouraged the students to “question the status quo and think creatively for the construction of a better social conglomerate”.
The minister also underlined Doctor Honoris Causa for the UDIMA that The education of the present, but above all of the future must be “inclusiveequitable, and relevant, designed to foster critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and collaboration in order to establish a society built on continuous learning.”
In his laudatio, the dean of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences, Andrés Delgado, highlighted that Dr. Franklin García Fermín is a lawyer who for decades has been known for his teaching and management work in the field of education, as well as for his career as a researcher. At the time, he valued his role in the development and implementation of the National Pact for Educational Reform in the Dominican Republicone of whose main objectives is the democratization of the population’s access to education.
In her turn to speak, the rector of the UDIMA, Concha Burgos, assured that the investiture as Doctor Honoris Causa by the UDIMA of Dr. Franklin García Fermín «will have a positive effect on the academic community and in society by recognizing people who have dedicated their lives to service and the advancement of knowledge, fostering a culture of recognition and appreciation for the effort and dedication that work in different areas means.
Together with the rector of UDIMA, they were at the Presidential Table of the event, which hosted the Assembly Hall of the UDIMA Campus, in Collado Villalba (Madrid), lThe presidents of the CEF-UDIMA Educational Group, Aránzazu de las Heras –who closed the solemn ceremony– and Arturo de las Heras; as well as the general secretary of the academic institution, Eugenio Lanzadera. Attended, among other guests, the rector of CEF.-Santo Domingo, Patricia Portela; the ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Spain, Juan Bolívar; the Consul General, Miguel Vásquez Peña; the director of International Relations of the educational group, Fredy Araujo, or the vice-rector of CEF.-Santo Domingo, Antonio Reina.
