Quote:
Originally Posted by catcherintherye
qgrande asks a very good question. To find the answer one must ask another basic question, Cui bono? Who benefits from an uneducated populous? Perhaps not all within the Political leadership of both major parties, but perhaps a large enough number to keep the process slowed to a crawl. One thing is certain, the longer the people of the DR are kept to a very basic education the political leaders with have an almost exclusive lock on the benefits of "leadership."
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The current administration has been focused on two things:
1. Investing on tertiary education (mainly UASD and its regional campuses) in terms of finishing the infrastructure of the regional campuses and key infrastructures in the main campus, inauguration of the main library, introduction of computers and technology to the curriculum, new textbooks, etc. Also, the expansion of the scholarship program to students of public schools with excellent GPA's. These scholarships pay for their tertiary education at a university abroad, usually in the United States with the hope that once the students graduate, they will return to the DR and begin to apply their acquired expertise. This is all in the hopes of not only increasing the number of well educated peoples in important positions in the country, but also an attempt to include people of disadvantage positions but with potential to become college educated and apply their knowledge to solve the DR's problems in whatever area of expertise they majored in.
2. Expansion of primary and secondary schools in order to allow more school age children to attend school. Also, there has been great emphasis on the breakfast program for the same reason and an expansion of the mobile libraries, "real" libraries, and other educational centers nationwide - even in many bateyes. In other words, the current administration has had an extensive approach rather than intensive towards public education at the primary and secondary levels and the reason for this is due to the deficit of classrooms nationwide. Once that deficit is sufficiently reduced, the focus will shift from expanding access of public education towards improving the quality.
Leonel will also meet with professional Dominicans in the United States later this year. There is a group of Dominicans that are investigating and searching for educated Dominicans all over the eastern US, particularly educated Dominicans that are not in the spotlight. This meeting that will take place with the hopes of getting those educated Dominicans excited and interested in using their knowledge and networks to help the DR in one way or another. Also, to help the progress of the Dominican community in the US as well.
-NALs