62% of 10-year-olds cannot read or understand a simple text

[NanSanPedro]

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...adas&utm_medium=bloque&utm_campaign=blueconic

The Dominican Republic faces serious educational challenges that result in learning poverty, according to the results of the Sectoral Competitiveness Bulletin (BCS) 2021, published by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (Mepyd), which reveals that 62.3% of the 10-year-old population could not read or understand a simple text.

It details that in learning poverty, the country is close to the average of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is 62.1%.

The document states that despite these results, the country has made progress by reducing the percentage of children below the minimum level of reading competence, with 18.5%, compared to 2013.

In the results of Science, Mathematics and Reading, 15-year-old students have an average of eight years of education. While in Latin America and the Caribbean, students reach on average 10 years; and in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the average is 12 years.

There is more at the link.

This must be viewed as a national emergency. This is so unacceptable!

 

[USA DOC]

62.3% ...sounds like the number of High school graduates who cant read..........

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Strength for the Journey tutors reading. We have a program which is broken down to 26 reading levels, with "A" being the lowest and "Z", the highest, about 6 grade level. Last year, about 90 children participated in our program. These children were ages 7 to 13. More than 50 of these children began at either "A "level, or what we called "AA", meaning they did not even know the alphabet, letter sounds or phonemes. Some of these children were 13 years old!

Almost all of the children achieved at least 2 reading levels, but even that is not grade level as there are 4 -5 levels for each grade. Not a single student reads at what is considered grade level.

Sadly, this year we are forced to work with only children at the A level, as these are the most serious cases, and because there are so many children and so few of us, we have no other choice.

Might I add that the schools here don't give a darn about our work. They don't care that we are working in tandem with reading specialists in the US and using 2 top rated programs. They don't care that our teachers have received special trainings on how to teach reading effectively. And they don't care that their students who previously could not read are now doing so.

It is thankless work that is not valued here. Our only comfort is that we know we are planting seeds for a better future.

Okay, I tried to post a link to a YouTube video of the one program being taught by our teachers. The first time I clicked on it, it opened. Then it went to another totally unrelated video on YouTube, so I edited the post and deleted the video.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Here I am trying to post the video link again.

 

[melphis]

This problem should correct itself when each of them get their first cell phone. You can't text back and forth if you can't read and write.
Its all about priorities. Give them a cell phone in grade one that can only accept or send texts and they will learn.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

This problem should correct itself when each of them get their first cell phone. You can't text back and forth if you can't read and write.
Its all about priorities. Give them a cell phone in grade one that can only accept or send texts and they will learn.

That does not solve the problem. I read text messages every day from illiterate parents. Unless you understand all the phonetic errors in Dominican speech and can apply them to text messages while also understanding all the local ways of expression, what they write does not make one bit of sense. In other words, you also have to be illiterate to understand.

 

[Kipling333]

Now ,Lindsey Kaufman, you are showing your age . I receive messages from my young Dominican friends that are 100% street Spanish without a single word in the Spanish dictionary. They pick up these words from Regaton music or have fun simply making up words. Also many write como ciente and eh tenido but those are easily translatable. but wafa and wefa and bubu are right out of hip hop. Yes it is a completely different language that these people use.

 

[Auryn]

Since I started teaching elementary, I have always been told that if a child doesn’t read at Grade level by Grade 3, they may never read well and will always be “behind”. Students in Grade 3 are typically age 8-9 years old.
I’ve had students come to me in Grade 3 that are not yet reading. It takes so much time and effort and programming to get them caught up. Without home support, it’s nearly impossible.
There are always exceptions but this is the general rule.
Dire straits DR.

 

[Auryn]

Having over half of the 10 years old that far behind will take an enormous initiative to even make a dent. Doesn’t sound like it will be on Abinaders watch.
The elite who run the country have their private schools with entry to top US universities afterward, with Model UN and weekend getaways to the country club or stateside. Why should education in public schools matter? It never has, the system is working quite well for them. It doesn’t need to change and policy makers will not make it change. The pandemic response to throw laptops into the wind only showed that. The haves will have, and the rest will see well over half of their kids illiterate.
This is a deeply rooted systemic issue.
But Lindsay’s Strength for the Journey will create positive change. However unappreciated, remote, and small, it will.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Thank you, Auryn. What I see as the root of the problem is politics, which is what you touched on. Combine that with a general value vacuum for education of the general population, and the result is that only a fortunate few receive benefits of education.

 

[Kipling333]

If we look at this from a different angle and ask what the 62% are missing out on by not being able to read a text message in proper spanish I think the answer is not much. Ignorance is bliss when is folly to be wise!! There are no work opportunities that involve reading for this 62% and what they miss out on by not being able to read El Dia they pick up on by looking at the TV. Very few Dominicans of any class are book readers. If you go back in time to the days of GB Shaw when he wrote Pygmalion, the percentage of people in London who could not read and who spoke extraordinary English was about the same as in the DR now. Fast forward 100 plus years to these days in London and this class of person still reads nothing. I taught as a volunteer in the capital for many years and I found out quite quickly that the students loved to hear stories but would never read a story so I concentrated on trying to teach how to discern the difference between right and wrong and the difference between truth and lies. As for this being a political problem, the answer is no.It goes far deeper than that. The Dominican nuevo riche at any monetary level do not care a peso for anyone less fortunate. It is only stupid foreigners like I am who get tied up in knots worrying about unfortunate Dominican friends and people.

 

[LindseyKaufman]

If we look at this from a different angle and ask what the 62% are missing out on by not being able to read a text message in proper spanish I think the answer is not much. Ignorance is bliss when is folly to be wise!! There are no work opportunities that involve reading for this 62% and what they miss out on by not being able to read El Dia they pick up on by looking at the TV. Very few Dominicans of any class are book readers. If you go back in time to the days of GB Shaw when he wrote Pygmalion, the percentage of people in London who could not read and who spoke extraordinary English was about the same as in the DR now. Fast forward 100 plus years to these days in London and this class of person still reads nothing. I taught as a volunteer in the capital for many years and I found out quite quickly that the students loved to hear stories but would never read a story so I concentrated on trying to teach how to discern the difference between right and wrong and the difference between truth and lies. As for this being a political problem, the answer is no.It goes far deeper than that. The Dominican nuevo riche at any monetary level do not care a peso for anyone less fortunate. It is only stupid foreigners like I am who get tied up in knots worrying about unfortunate Dominican friends and people.

I agree with you, somewhat. I taught in Africa in a remote village that had absolutely no electricity, running water, Internet, etc. The people lived in mud huts. I often asked myself whether they really do need an education.

But education is one of the basic human rights. (article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.) Always opportunities to learn and grow and seek better opportunities should be available, I believe. My opinion is that there should be opportunities for upward mobility that go beyond loyalty to a particular political party.

The Dominican Republic is a little different than this remote African village where I lived. It is trying to compete on a global level. I believe, to be successful at this endeavor, the general population of this country should receive (as well as they deserve) a decent education.

 

[thompstr]

Uneducated population is easier to control

 

[johne]

I agree with you, somewhat. I taught in Africa in a remote village that had absolutely no electricity, running water, Internet, etc. The people lived in mud huts. I often asked myself whether they really do need an education.

But education is one of the basic human rights. (article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.) Always opportunities to learn and grow and seek better opportunities should be available, I believe. My opinion is that there should be opportunities for upward mobility that go beyond loyalty to a particular political party.

The Dominican Republic is a little different than this remote African village where I lived. It is trying to compete on a global level. I believe, to be successful at this endeavor, the general population of this country should receive (as well as they deserve) a decent education.

Lindsey
I have a situation in Los Conucos (just a few miles from Juan Dolio) that perhaps you can give me some sage advise. Although I try to help the younger kids there with barrels of clothes and sports equipment I don't feel effective when it comes to education. It is dreadful. They are about to return to public school and I doubt that will make any difference in raising their level. What can I do as an individual to help especially in the area of education??

 

[NanSanPedro]

I agree with you, somewhat. I taught in Africa in a remote village that had absolutely no electricity, running water, Internet, etc. The people lived in mud huts. I often asked myself whether they really do need an education.

But education is one of the basic human rights. (article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.) Always opportunities to learn and grow and seek better opportunities should be available, I believe. My opinion is that there should be opportunities for upward mobility that go beyond loyalty to a particular political party.

The Dominican Republic is a little different than this remote African village where I lived. It is trying to compete on a global level. I believe, to be successful at this endeavor, the general population of this country should receive (as well as they deserve) a decent education.

Lindsey, I know you concentrate on the grade schoolers. Is there a program that identifies and tracks those kids that might be able to go on to a good university?

 

[LindseyKaufman]

Lindsey, I know you concentrate on the grade schoolers. Is there a program that identifies and tracks those kids that might be able to go on to a good university?

A good university where? Here in the DR, the universities accept anyone with a high school diploma.

 

[josh2203]

Since I started teaching elementary, I have always been told that if a child doesn’t read at Grade level by Grade 3, they may never read well and will always be “behind”. Students in Grade 3 are typically age 8-9 years old.
I’ve had students come to me in Grade 3 that are not yet reading. It takes so much time and effort and programming to get them caught up. Without home support, it’s nearly impossible.
There are always exceptions but this is the general rule.
Dire straits DR.

As far as I know/understand, the younger the kid, the easier is to pick up a language, the smaller, the more sponge-like they are with learning language... Our eldest has just completed 2nd grade and is about to learn his 3rd language pretty easily... Also, his 2nd grade school put him to read quite a few full books (for kids) and had to do a variety of tasks where understanding was required... I'm pretty proud of how he did...

Adults can also learn to read/write in their native language and then in foreign language, but yes, it takes much much more effort than with the smallest kids... Their brain is still much more receptive...

 

[NanSanPedro]

A good university where? Here in the DR, the universities accept anyone with a high school diploma.

I thought I read here on DR1 that there was 1 decent university in the DR. Am I mistaken?

 

[Kipling333]

To LindseyKaufman and to Auryn..I am sure that you both can have great satisfaction when you have taught just 3 or 4 in a class of 20 the value of reading and writing. I have maintained good conduct with more than 50 of my former students who all have jobs but the others have just fallen by the wayside, but I was only a part timer . To SNP,qualifications obtained here at any university are not recognised overseas except in a few countries. A person can obtain just a basic pass in the last year at school and still be admitted into a university but of course the drop out percentage is high after years 1 and 2 . As for a school following students after they pass through the gate for the last time there is no old boys associations or alumni associations ..that is a project for someone here to introduce. To Auryn and Josh2203, it may seem strange but my education improved after I started learning Latin and I think that was about 12. All of a sudden English and French and Italian and logic fell into place . I thank my stars for a classics education and not wasting hours on physics and chemistry and trigonometry !!
. Well done to everyone who tries to improve the standards of thinking and education in this country ..it is a labour of love.

 

[MariaRubia]

This problem should correct itself when each of them get their first cell phone. You can't text back and forth if you can't read and write.
Its all about priorities. Give them a cell phone in grade one that can only accept or send texts and they will learn.

That's why everyone does voice messages on whatsapp and hardly anyone sends text messages.