Dominican Education in Crisis

[RHM]

Dominican Education in Crisis

In part I of this post, I mentioned how colonialism and imperialism have no doubt affected the growth of the Dominican Republic. However, I also proposed that those reasons alone do not tell the whole story. It’s been a long time since Spanish conquistadors and pirates plundered the Caribbean and 40 years since the last foreign military interference on Dominican soil. So, at the end of the day there must be other more immediate reasons for the country’s state of perpetual development. While there are likely many factors that contribute to our struggle, I propose that the current crisis in public education, rampant corruption, and an inability to prioritize is what’s killing the country. And, as I stated before, this cannot go on forever. Today’s post will focus on education and over the next day or two we’ll tackle corruption and priorities. Each of these issues are sure to generate discussion and thus deserve to be unpacked separately. I look forward to your comments and criticism.

Currently only 1 in 10 Dominicans graduate from high school. That means that 90% of the population lacks the basic educational skills needed to advance (or maintain) Dominican society, much less compete in an increasingly globalized world. Worse, it means that all of our professionals (doctors, lawyers, educators, politicians, etc.) come from a pool that only represents 10% of the country’s human capital. To make matters worse, those lucky enough to be in that “top 10%” graduate from the public school system which, according to a recent study of 15 Latin American countries (DR1 Daily News 8/1/08), is in a state of crisis (in addition to overall poor quality and funding, the average student only receives 2.5 hours of instruction per day under horrendous conditions.)

In 2006, President Leonel Fernandez’s PLD won a majority of both houses of the Dominican congress (Chamber of Deputies and Sendaores.) The first order of business? These new functionarios were given “courses on etiquette aimed at helping them to learn how to behave at public and private functions, table manners, and to dress correctly for every occasion” (Diario libre 9/1/06.) This did not inspire confidence in anyone who was paying attention. How can we expect the men and women of our government to have the intellectual maturity, wisdom, and education to fix the complex educational, economic, and institutional problems of a struggling country when they must first be taught how to eat with utensils? The acquision of basic manners typically comes before any real education and not vice-versa. Although, I must admit, when I was 12 years old I waited in line directly behind Tip O’Neil as he fed himself raw seafood from a buffet using only his hands (true story.)

The U.S. has plenty of leaders who are not worth their weight in fool’s gold, but I’d venture to say that the majority have studied and worked in their fields of endeavor. In addition, there are legions of public service schools where, for better or worse, many of our future bureaucrats are bred. In addition to the crisis around primary and secondary level education, the Dominican Republic lacks these higher-learning institutions and, as a result, we end up with ambassadors who know nothing about diplomacy, ministers who know nothing about their particular ministries, and tens of thousands of others who fill unnecessary government jobs for no other reason other than their party affiliation. This reality should scare the hell out of anyone who cares about the country.

Those in the “bottom 90%” (non-high school graduates) are literally being left in the dust and have almost no hope of ever bettering their situations. Worse yet is the realization that even if we woke up tomorrow with a perfect educational system it woud likely take several generations before tangible progress would be realized. Thus, we are looking at millions and millions of people for whom there is very little hope and a country which will more than likely be left further and further behind.

I’ll leave you with a quote from economist Robert Kaplan.

“Only in a society where most people can read, that has a sizable middle class that pays taxes, and reasonable institutions manned by literate bureaucrats, where people do not have to worry about being killed or attacked by their neighbors, will democracy unleash all that is best in a society. Only then will democracy lead to more transparency, more honesty, higher growth rates.”

I look forward to reading your comments.

RHM

[RafaelPabon]

In 2006, President Leonel Fernandez’s PLD won a majority of both houses of the Dominican congress (Chamber of Deputies and Sendaores.) The first order of business? These new functionarios were given “courses on etiquette aimed at helping them to learn how to behave at public and private functions, table manners, and to dress correctly for every occasion” (Diario libre 9/1/06.) This did not inspire confidence in anyone who was paying attention. How can we expect the men and women of our government to have the intellectual maturity, wisdom, and education to fix the complex educational, economic, and institutional problems of a struggling country when they must first be taught how to eat with utensils? The acquision of basic manners typically comes before any real education and not vice-versa. Although, I must admit, when I was 12 years old I waited in line directly behind Tip O’Neil as he fed himself raw seafood from a buffet using only his hands (true story.)

Well, maybe this is less than confidence inspiring... but then again, you have to start somewhere, and someone has to set the example.. the fact that it was reported in a public fashion can lead one to hope that over the coming years it will continue and become the norm, and not something newsworthy.

[suarezn]

...and the above post from grst818 (spamming us) shows why some people get strangled and every applauds their death...

On a different note...Great thread which even though we've discussed it in the past is always good to revisit. One thing though, where are the figures that show that only 1 out of 10 graduates from High School. I'm truly shocked if that's the case...it seems to me that nowadays almost everyone graduates at least from High School (At least everyone in my family).

Here's a link to an interesting article by renowned reporter Andres Oppenheimer on things that The DR (all Latin America really) could learn from Finland regarding the importance of education.

http://www.elnuevoherald.com/172/story/277840.html

[RHM]

Originally Posted by suarezn

...and the above post from grst818 (spamming us) shows why some people get strangled and every applauds their death...

On a different note...Great thread which even though we've discussed it in the past is always good to revisit. One thing though, where are the figures that show that only 1 out of 10 graduates from High School. I'm truly shocked if that's the case...it seems to me that nowadays almost everyone graduates at least from High School (At least everyone in my family).

Here's a link to an interesting article by renowned reporter Andres Oppenheimer on things that The DR (all Latin America really) could learn from Finland regarding the importance of education.

Finlandia, un ejemplo para Latinoamérica - 09/03/2008 - El Nuevo Herald

I think you are on to something here. But it's not just time to model other systems, it's time to actually hire someone with experience building one. Yes, that means hiring someone from "afuera" but, hey, there's nobody in the Dominican government (or private sector) with such credentials that I am aware of. We've had dozens of "Alejandrina Germans" over the years and none of them have been able to pull off much.

As for the data of 1/10 graduating from high school, that number is 2 years old and might have crept up to 1.something by now. However, don't confuse that with progress. About a year ago a representative from the Ministry of Education told me during a meeting that "we have one of the best systems in Latin America because we don't let people fail." Also remember that the majority of those graduates come from the public school sector and lack the basic level of skills that you would normally associate with high school grads.

RHM

[catcherintherye]

Great topic RHM.

Although I think you are underestimating the effects of the past on what is happening now in the DR, I think focusing on these three issues is a good way to closely examine the current state of disfunction.


The question that needs answering first is 'Cui bono?' Who benefits from the present situation. Obviously, the Plutocracy running the country has the most to gain from the present situation of a population comprised of an overwhelmingly undereducated, uneducated, and illiterate citizenry.

Why would they want anything to change? With a uneducated, disorganized and generally subserviant population, they have their hold on power pretty much guarenteed.

Although many politicians routinely pay lip service to improving the educational system, few actually follow through with concrete action and/or the money and resources required for such an effort. They know a good opportunity when they see it.

All this brings me back to my first point; the lasting effects of historical events. In my opinion, Trujillo's years are still casting a shadow, which is long and wide, and covers the DR with a tradition of cronyism, an underlying popular acceptance of poor governance, and the learned helplessness that comes from being ruled by dictate, deception and deprivation, for decades.

[planner]

Even with political will - they would have to invest massive sums of money to bring the system up to any kind of standard. Where would this come from?

I am appalled at the lack of education, the lack of fundamental skills, common sense etc etc. For those with a high school education - the real level of education is maybe grade 7 when compared to North America or Europe.

We need well educated teachers, working with classes the full day, in well structured schools, with electricity! They need books, supplies and tools to do the job. And we need to make it mandatory! Kids need to learn.

[Chirimoya]

Not to mention the years it would take to train a whole generation of new teachers!

[planner]

we can import from Cuba! They are doing things right well at least in the educational field.

[Charlielyn]

Teachers could also be brought in from Puerto Rico. I believe that Cuban and Spanish American teachers should be hired to train the Dominican teachers. Of course money for supplies and a full school day are also necessary. When teachers are poorly paid they do not have a great incentive to work. I visited a grade 2 classroom, in the countryside one year ,and the students were all there but the teacher didn't show up until an hour later. There were no books or supplies in the classroom - nothing but old desks. Sad. The classroom was also over crowded. A difficult situation for the teacher.

City schools do a better job at instructing students from what I have observed. The children of the families that I know are very intelligent and have parents that care about their education. They live in poor barrios, but value education.

Education is of great interest to me. I taught for 30 years at the elementary level in Canada. I tutor a 15 year old in English when in PP.

[LaTeacher]

I've noticed a trend in the education field lately to compare our schools here in the DR with schools in Cuba and Chile. I don't think that's fair. Both are countried distinctly different from the DR and for reasons of infrastructure and, in Cuba, severe obligation (punishable by law), their school systems work. And work well.

But the things that make their school systems work is lacking in the DR. In order to compete with Chile and Cuba there would need to be drastic changes in the government, in infrastructure - hiring of teachers, a sense of responsibility from the universities to impart modern and applicable knowledge to teachers in training...

i think it's a good idea to hire some from "afuera" to rebuild the system. sadly, it's not going to happen anytime soon. take money away from the "botella"? nope.

full day school is also a great idea. there are schools in santiago that are planning on putting "intensive" high school - 2 grades in one year, 4 hours a day - because they want to be able to put "full day" school in the near future and need to "weed out" the "bad seeds" as quickly as possible. what happens to the students that get lost in that process? if we have a deficiency already teaching ONE grade in a year, how much higher will it be teaching TWO?
the point is, there is no physical space for all day school. it's a rampant problem in latin america. i know that in mexico, guatemala, honduras, el salvador and english speaking belize all have half day school and did not score nearly as poorly as the DR.

maybe it has something to do with the fact that in one week, there is ALMOST ALWAYS one day with no class - teacher's meetings, rain, holiday, araganania (laziness, i'm not sure if that's correct, but it's what we call it here in my spanglish speaking household). or maybe it's because there are only FOUR valid hours of class and students are given a thirty minute "recreo." or maybe it's because there is no focus on the 4 basics: spanish, math, science and social studies.

has anyone noticed how many classes are REQUIRED by the board of ed? in elementary school there is: espanol (which is divided into: reading, writing, spelling, handwriting and speaking... but only given one period (about 40 minutes) a day, math, social studies (both history AND geography), science... and now, the "extras" formacion humana (religion), art, civics (isn't this really part of social studies?), gym class (how do you have gym with no playground?), computers (even if the school has NO computers), from 5th grade on BOTH ENGLISH AND FRENCH (neither of which are given the proper time or effort to actually learn them) in high school there are THIRTEEN classes that dominican students take in ONE semester - including "agroeconomia" and "comercio".

even with a full day, it's kind of a system overload. not to mention that the setup is so fragmented it doesn't really allow for continuity. Instead of one full year of biology, one full year of chem, one of physics and one of bio2 or chem2 (etc), there is ONE SEMESTER of bio and ONE SEMESTER of chem freshman year and ONE SEMESTER of bio and ONE SEMESTER of chem junior year (3). how can those students actually be expected to retain the information and not have to reinvent the wheel each time their subject comes up?

I think the thing that most bothers me about these studies that recently came out is that they only focus on PUBLIC schools, but really the problem extends to the private sector as well. The teachers in the public school are typically more qualified than teachers in the private and overwhelmingly better paid that private school (let's all forget about bilingual where teachers get paid, mostly, for speaking english). the problem is an all around curriculum program, mixed in with lack of interest or a culture of education.