A question about schools in the DR...

Berzin

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During a discussion with a friend the topic of education in the DR came up.

This guy is paying to send his girlfriend's kid from a previous interlude to school in some barrio of Santiago. I didn't get the name.

The tuition is 500 pesos monthly, and he told me that the schools in the DR are so much better that if this kid, who is currently in 7th grade, were to come to NYC he would be pushed up to the 9th grade. This is taking into account that he speaks and reads absolutely no English.

I have a feeling this is a bit of boasting on my friends' part to make his country look better in some respects than it really is-national pride has a tendency to blind people to certain realities.

But I don't believe this for one second. This kid may be smarter than average, but to make such a comparison seems quite a stretch.

My question is, what kind of bang for your buck do you get in the DR for schooling that costs 500 pesos a month? Is it much more of an improvement from regular public school?

What are the average hours a student attends class daily for this type of money?
 
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AlterEgo

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Our niece went to a very good [Catholic] school in Santo Domingo, her English was so-so. During high school she moved from SD, where she lived with her father, to Washington Heights, to live with her mother. Smart girl. She had to repeat a grade in NY [after she was tested]. Went back to SD for a BA and has a good job in Philly now.

I really doubt the boasts of your friend, unless this child is exceptionally brilliant.

AE
 

Chip

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500 pesos won't get you a lot. That is the bottom of the barrel for private schools here. We pay RD1400 a month but have paid much more.
 

Hillbilly

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Look at it like this: In that barrio, that is probably a fairly good school. In the Dominican list of sayings, there is one that says "a scorpion can be under any piece of wood". I can attest to the fact that there are, indeed, brilliant minds all over the place. If the child is intelligent, this will be seen all through grammar school and, later, high school. The child should have no trouble obtaining student credit for university training..

As for going ahead in school if they were to transfer to NYC, that, my friend is a cruel joke. Back a grade at the least!...Even with the namby-pamby, bi-lingual education now in vogue, there is no way yur friend's scenario could unfold.

How many hours? I would venture say from 7"30 a.m. to probably 12:00 noon or 12:30 pm at the latest. Or, if the child goes in the afternoon, then from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 or 6:30 pm...This is best case scenario..

HB
 
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Berzin

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Are you sure he didn't say 5000 pesos?

No, he said 500 pesos. He even told me the amount in pesos, that's how I know I didn't hear it wrong.

While I have no doubt that the kid in question is bright, my friend made it a point to say that any child coming from the DR would qualify for the same advance, not just his, because the schools there are better.

I believe he is confused as to what a "private school" in the DR really is.
 

Adrian Bye

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what your friend is trying to tell you is so far off base its really not even worth your responding.
 

TOOBER_SDQ

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No, he said 500 pesos. He even told me the amount in pesos, that's how I know I didn't hear it wrong.

While I have no doubt that the kid in question is bright, my friend made it a point to say that any child coming from the DR would qualify for the same advance, not just his, because the schools there are better.

I believe he is confused as to what a "private school" in the DR really is.

I agree. Your friend is thoroughly confused. Last year I put my kid through private school. I cost me 4000 pesos per month. The school was okay, but not the type of place that sprouts geniuses. I transferred her to somewhere else. I think a good school in DR comes with a significant cost $$.
 

dv8

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any child coming from the DR would qualify for the same advance, not just his, because the schools there are better.

i agree with HB that a brilliant mind can be find anywhere, a diamond in the mud, so to speak. but a general level of dominican education, including private schools is pathetically low.
now it's a good time for NALs to join in and tell us that DR has the best education under the sun and we are all wrong and all dominicans can read and write...
 
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Aug 21, 2007
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I have worked with one of the best (and most expensive) private schools on the north coast. They take academics very seriously, using materials, standards and testing from the U.S. I can tell you from experience that, even there, more than half of the students in every grade test below grade level.

Lindsey
 

Berzin

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No, he said 500 pesos. He even told me the amount in pesos, that's how I know I didn't hear it wrong.

Meant to say "He even told me the amount in US dollars". Sorry about that.

Thanks everyone for all the responses. For a moment there I thought I was going crazy.

Like the time a neighbor told me the superintendent's daughter was working at a AI hotel in the DR and was making $3,000 US a month as a regular floor manager.

I didn't believe it for a second and it turned out to be false upon further investigation.
 

bob saunders

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While I generally agree with the assessment given by you experts, my stepson came to Canada when he was ten years old and in grade 5. He knew perhaps 20 words of English. He took four months of ESL provided by the province of British Columbia and then was mainstreamed into regular class. He was a just above average student at his mother's school in Jarabacoa. He was never taught by her either. He finished Grade eight in BC before we transferred to Ontario. He finished Grade 12 with honours and is in his second year of Business management in Toronto. I know several dozen Dominican kids that are more intelligent than him, more aggressive also. Another friend whose daughter attended Yris school through grade six, then the nuns school in Jarabacoa until grade 10 just graduated in the Bronx with honours also. Now this girl is dedicated to achievement and has parents that push her so perhaps having parents that care and assist makes the difference.
It would be hard to compare almost any school in the DR with a public school in most of the first world but I think that basic math skills are comparable at least at elementary school level. For the rest not even close. I can't comment on other schools but Yris will not pass a child from grade one unless they can read and write to the standard she has set.
 
Aug 21, 2007
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I tend to agree with you Bob Saunders.

The school I am familiar with here has stringent standards. Their disappointing testing results are a real concern. However, discussions have ensued regarding students, in this case, learning in a language that is not their primary language and whether that is causing these disappointing test scores.

Also, school results show a catching up appears to take place as students approach graduation. Nearly all graduates attend universities upon completion, and most enroll in U.S. universities.

Lindsey
 
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$500 pesos you are talking PUBLIC school, so its crap, jumping from 7th to 9th, I don't think so, maybe with a big slingshot. Not because the student can't achieve it but because the teachers cant motivate them.
Honest truth
 

bob saunders

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$500 pesos you are talking PUBLIC school, so its crap, jumping from 7th to 9th, I don't think so, maybe with a big slingshot. Not because the student can't achieve it but because the teachers cant motivate them.
Honest truth

Public schools have no monthly fees. Motivation comes from within, and from parents. Teachers I agree also play a part. A good teacher can make a great deal of difference. It has been my experience regardless of the country that the student succeeds if they want to.