Education in the Rep Dom.....?

granca

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Aug 20, 2007
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Is there anything we expats could do to influence the powers that be to get the education system better organised. Some examples of the shambles here I've seen are

13 year old girl next door who has never been to school because neither her Mother nor Father ever got round to getting her a birth certificate,

2/3 of 12/13 years youngsters in the village who come round to our house to use our computer to help with their homework. Answering questions about the way an atomic bomb is made and biographies of the scientists concerned; the table of elements with the difference between iron and chlorine; they've never heard of Beethoven not even of Cervantes. (at 12/13 !!!)

Our daughter aged 4 did her first year in class 1 and should now be starting year 2, we have bought all the books but because of class sizes the Directors have decided NOW to make 2 class ones and leave class 2 for another year. She quite enjoyed class 1 did a lot of games, singing and the bare minimum of academic work. We are teaching her to write and do simple arithmetic at home but there is going to be a big row with the Directors next week.

At just about every tienda I go to they have to use a calculator for even the simplest of bills, by the time they still haven't finished entering numbers, then correcting them , I've already got the correct money out of my cartera.

Again at tiendas, if 1 lb costs 80 pesos I usually have to correct them by the time they tell me how much they think I owe for say 3 1/2 lbs.

I know I'm blowing off steam but if anybody has any ideas about something we could do I'll gladly join in.
 
Nov 25, 2008
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Better education system is not to the government advantage, keep the people ignorant and they will get reelected;
this system has worked since day "uno" and I very much doubt that it will change.
 
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bob saunders

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Are you talking about a private school that your daughter is going to, if so you are the clients and money talks. You need to make it clear that you want things a certain way.
The majority of the others you mention are the responsibility of parents.
You have to be very diplomatic in talking to a parent that hasn?t realized the importance of education. Does the 13 year old show interest in learning!
Yris concentrates on math and Spanish at her school because these are the two subjects that allow for acheivement in higher grades. If you can read well you can understand.
If you can afford it, the best thing you can do is sponsor a child or two that shows interest, and make it conditional on the parents interest also by getting them to school on time, making sure they do their homework....etc.
 

bob saunders

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Better education system is not to the government advantage, keep the people ignorant and they will get reelected;
this system has worked since day "uno" and I very much doubt that it will change.

I have seen a number of improvements in the public school system in the 12 years I?ve been coming to the DR. I don?t believe the government keeps the education system poor for the reason you state. I believe it more because a good education system eats up a lot of money and that would take away from their perks.
 

gmiller261

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Dec 29, 2002
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Bingo

Better education system is not to the government advantage, keep the people ignorant and they will get reelected;

You did leave out that the authority bodies of the DR are so transparently and pathologically corrupt that an educated society would not put up with it.

Corruption is a way of life and most wear it as a badge of honor.
 

bob saunders

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You did leave out that the authority bodies of the DR are so transparently and pathologically corrupt that an educated society would not put up with it.

Corruption is a way of life and most wear it as a badge of honor.

Corruption is everywhere in politics in the USA, and most politicians in the USA have at least a University degree. Some of those have been corrupt for many generations and they still get elected, and this is with an educated population. In fact the better educated the crooks are the more inventive they are with ways to steal from you, and make you feel good about it while they are robbing you. The above said can be said for the majority of countries in the world.
 

gmiller261

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Big difference Bob

In the US when they are caught they go to jail.

In the DR a person can be murdered and there is a very small chance the perpetrator would be found and go to jail.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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In the US when they are caught they go to jail.

In the DR a person can be murdered and there is a very small chance the perpetrator would be found and go to jail.

And then after they go to jail, someone with some cash can often pay to get them released.....

AE
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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See today's Boquechivo...
Regarding the birthcertificate, the parents have to file for a late declaration-a pain n the butt but doable.
 

Bob K

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Aug 16, 2004
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When the government spends more money building a choo-choo train in SD that only 1-2% of the population of the country can use, and only 20% or less of them can afford to use it, then it does on education, health care, welfare together....what do you expect.

Bob K
 

gmiller261

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Bob, I really miss your point

Fifteen compared to thousands. The numbers are so mathematically skewed by population it is absurd. You are talking endemic in the DR.

And the Dominican corruption transparency only validates the point that the government wants to keep the people ignorant.
 

bob saunders

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Fifteen compared to thousands. The numbers are so mathematically skewed by population it is absurd. You are talking endemic in the DR.

And the Dominican corruption transparency only validates the point that the government wants to keep the people ignorant.

I didn?t say that the corruption in the states is as bad as the DR, but just proved that an educated population will still vote in and support corrupt politicians. President Obama is considered very shady by a large segment of the American population. In the DR a large segment of the population is concentrating on meeting their basic daily needs, and it is certainly true that they allow corruption to flourish. Given that the educated people in the DR control the government do you really think having an educated population would make a great deal of difference. Every Catholic in the DR is taught from a young age proper morals. The Dominican people are taught proper morals.
 

gmiller261

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Dec 29, 2002
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I'll refute the fact

that the DR authority figures are considered educated by most standards. I am unmoved that LF has a law degree. He has proven that he does not have the 'education' to lead by moral example, a trait paramount in affecting change.

"do you really think having an educated population would make a great deal of difference"

Yes I do. Not immediately but it HAS to start.

Transparent corruption in the DR has been an accepted way of life for generations. It is so prevalent and socially accepted that it has corrupted the morals of the young you speak about. It gives the young a false sense of a future and propagates the rampant entitlement mentality.

The heart of a sound education is the realization of the aspects in life that you do not know.
 

bob saunders

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that the DR authority figures are considered educated by most standards. I am unmoved that LF has a law degree. He has proven that he does not have the 'education' to lead by moral example, a trait paramount in affecting change.



Yes I do. Not immediately but it HAS to start.

Transparent corruption in the DR has been an accepted way of life for generations. It is so prevalent and socially accepted that it has corrupted the morals of the young you speak about. It gives the young a false sense of a future and propagates the rampant entitlement mentality.

The heart of a sound education is the realization of the aspects in life that you do not know.

I don?t disagree that a sound education will help you realize dreams you never realized you had. Where we?ll have to agree to disagree is that education makes you moral. Some of the most highly educated people are morally bankrupt. I spend most of my working day as a small cog in the government of Canada ensuring that the Federal transparency and accountability act is followed by large defense contractors, both Canadian and American. One of my biggest challenges to keep my higher ups on the straight and narrow. These are people with Master?s degrees usually in more than one area. Canada has very little corruption but that takes full time work to prevent. I stand by my statement that education will not make you a more moral person.
 

RacerX

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Nov 22, 2009
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I didn?t say that the corruption in the states is as bad as the DR, but just proved that an educated population will still vote in and support corrupt politicians.
A. President Obama is considered very shady by a large segment of the American population.
In the DR a large segment of the population is concentrating on meeting their basic daily needs, and it is certainly true that they allow corruption to flourish. Given that the educated people in the DR control the government do you really think having an educated population would make a great deal of difference. B. Every Catholic in the DR is taught from a young age proper morals. The Dominican people are taught proper morals.

A. What large segment of the American population?

B. Who said Catholics were bastions of moral superiority?

If children know nothing subsequently it is because they were taught nothing consequently. Fairy tales and supercilious dogma included.
 

RonS

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Oct 18, 2004
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Is there anything we expats could do to influence the powers that be to get the education system better organised.

THIS was the initial question and a very good one that I'd like to hear an answer to.
 

gmiller261

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Dec 29, 2002
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No

anything we expats could do to influence the powers that be

Expats especially become targets if they dare 'embarrass' a Dominican in power, even though nothing was further from the point.

Insinuating that the education system could be better could have a disastrous affect on ones health.

I call it hubris.
 

granca

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Aug 20, 2007
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Its sad isn't it? The one firm thing that has and is emerging from this thread is that we can do nothing. The state wants our money but gives us very little back for it. It would appear that even if we live here for a lifetime we can never vote nor have a say in the countries government.
 
Mar 1, 2009
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Sadly Gmiller got screwed somewhere in life and he is still suffering for. The power of forgiveness is amazing when utilized. If we want to improve the educational system perhaps short of opening up your own school would be the best answer. The schools I went to in Santo Domingo we're very good. The teachers we're great and when I moved to Miami later on I was surprised how ignorant the kids we're to so many facts. I went to El San Gabriel in el 9 y medio and then La O y M por alla por la Feria.
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