Government spends billions on public education; investment does not pay off; teachers boycott in-person learning

[Dolores]

The executive director of Acción Empresarial por la Educación (Educa), Darwin Caraballo says the 2022 National Budget allocates the highest budget in history to the Ministry of Education at a time when the big spending results continue poor and are declining.

In a statement, Caraballo said that teachers’ salaries have doubled yet public school teachers have unilaterally decided not to show up for in-person learning in classrooms. The public school teacher’s union president has called for teachers to stay out of schools until at least 31 January 2022. Eduardo Hidalgo, president of the ADP, says around 10,000 are ill with Covid-19 or influenza.

Previously, current Education Minister Roberto Furcal had kept students out of schools arguing that the positivity was high. It was not until Vice President Raquel Peña, who is coordinator of the Health Cabinet, authorized...

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[zoomzx11]

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The politicos will find that developing a highly effective school system is no easy task.
Attracting talent with higher teacher salaries is a good start.

Not difficult to look at excellent effective school systems in other countries and see how they did it.

In the US the states that spent the most money per pupil have the highest percentage of their students go to college.
New York State spent $24k per pupil.
Utah spent $7k

In what state would you like your child to get a free public education?



We have a resident expert on dr1 who owns a private school here.

Perhaps Canadian bob could join in with what his school spends per pupil per year for a comparison.
Assuming parents who choose a private school over DR public system are both wealthier and more highly motivated to see their kids get a good education it would be interesting to see what percentage of bob's school continue on to college.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Throwing $ at the problem never works. The USA is a prime example.

 

[zoomzx11]

Throwing $ at the problem never works. The USA is a prime example.

Someone suggesting "throwing money"?
Look this up if you like.
The states that spend the most per pupil in the US have the highest percentage of students go on to college.
That sort of the goal of education.

I went to a New York City high school and we had a beautiful state of the art swimming pool that was used to teach thousands and thousands of students to swim. These are kids who will never drown.
Do you think any high schools in Utah have pools? Not at the paltry amount the state spends per student.

A member of this board complained about the costs of providing students in the DR with computer labs.
How are computer labs not fundamentally necessary for students in this day and age?
At about 10k per student ISS in Sosua offers a well equipped computer lab for the students.
Would that be throwing money?
Its a strong sales point for the private school as parents who spend that kind of money are well aware of the importance of their kids being computer literate.

Next time you actually witness anyone "throwing money" give me a call ,and I will bring my catchers mitt.
Fact is that it does not happen.

Be interested in exactly how the US is a prime example of " throwing money at the problem" but its off topic so just send me a pm.
I like to learn new things.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Money used for a new paint job or subsidized uniforms does not an education make. Can't put lipstick on a pig. They gifted all the students with tablets and lappys. The tablets are not used in class. They are used by the kids at home for tic tok, Snapchat WhatsApp and Roblox.

Funding should go to improving learning and curriculum.

 

[Drperson]

Money used for a new paint job or subsidized uniforms does not an education make. Can't put lipstick on a pig. They gifted all the students with tablets and lappys. The tablets are not used in class. They are used by the kids at home for tic tok, Snapchat WhatsApp and Roblox.

Funding should go to improving learning and curriculum.

whatever happened to book learning.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Does the DR have mandatory school attendance legislation? Is it enforced? I’ve noticed many DR parents I’ve met don’t see education as a priority and don’t instil this in their children. Others I’ve met make the effort and send their kids to private schools to ensure they get a good basic education.

I’ve also seen the poor condition of many of the schools in the countryside. Basically ovens for children and staff to bake in during the afternoon. Money needs to be spent on better infrastructure, enforcement and parental education before it’s spent on tech. You can’t build on a bad foundation.

Many of the kids I’ve seen are mechanically inclined at an early age. Not every kid is destined for University. An integrated high school and technical school program would be an incentive for kids to complete their education. Trained mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc. are needed. They can earn a good living with these skills.

 

[zoomzx11]

Does the DR have mandatory school attendance legislation? Is it enforced? I’ve noticed many DR parents I’ve met don’t see education as a priority and don’t instil this in their children. Others I’ve met make the effort and send their kids to private schools to ensure they get a good basic education.

I’ve also seen the poor condition of many of the schools in the countryside. Basically ovens for children and staff to bake in during the afternoon. Money needs to be spent on better infrastructure, enforcement and parental education before it’s spent on tech. You can’t build on a bad foundation.

Many of the kids I’ve seen are mechanically inclined at an early age. Not every kid is destined for University. An integrated high school and technical school program would be an incentive for kids to complete their education. Trained mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc. are needed. They can earn a good living with these skills.

Raising the quality of public school education in the DR will be a long term expensive process.
Not sure the DR has the will to make big improvements.
Even in the expensive private schools there are no special education teachers trained to teach kids with special needs.
Your child has dyslexia or other special needs you are out of luck here.

 

[bob saunders]

The politicos will find that developing a highly effective school system is no easy task.
Attracting talent with higher teacher salaries is a good start.

Not difficult to look at excellent effective school systems in other countries and see how they did it.

In the US the states that spent the most money per pupil have the highest percentage of their students go to college.
New York State spent $24k per pupil.
Utah spent $7k

In what state would you like your child to get a free public education?



We have a resident expert on dr1 who owns a private school here.

Perhaps Canadian bob could join in with what his school spends per pupil per year for a comparison.
Assuming parents who choose a private school over DR public system are both wealthier and more highly motivated to see their kids get a good education it would be interesting to see what percentage of bob's school continue on to college.

Sure. New York has the second highest per pupil expenditure in the nation ($16,794) but one of the lowest graduation rates (70.8 percent). The disparity in the District of Columbia is even greater – it has the third highest per pupil expenditure ($16,353) but the second lowest graduation rate (56.0 percent). Utah spent the least money per student -- just $7,197 per student, or $4.28 billion in total -- but had a solid graduation rate of 86 percent

 

[Auryn]

Just as an FYI, “computer labs” are basically going extinct in modern classrooms, as are SmartBoards. Even expensive private schools in the DR still use the computer labs.

New models for tech learning include computer and tablet carts that can be moved from classroom to classroom, as well as using devices like Chrome casts instead of pricey Smart Boards.

I contacted an organization here in Canada that provides computers for schools about donating chrome books to the DR. It was gaining some traction until the pandemic hit, and they were swamped with meeting tech needs here.

But hey, each Dominican child has a home device now, so that problem is solved. 🙄

 

[CristoRey]

Raising the quality of public school education in the DR will be a long term expensive process.
Not sure the DR has the will to make big improvements.
Even in the expensive private schools there are no special education teachers trained to teach kids with special needs.
Your child has dyslexia or other special needs you are out of luck here.

I believe the people running this country are quite satisfied with the way things are.
If they were not, they would be doing everything in their power to at least give these kids stuck in their dysfunctional public education system a chance at a decent life.

The amount of Ninis we are going to have running the streets in a few years is going to be staggering but hey...
so long as those tourism dollars keep following in we're good, right?

 

[Auryn]

Sure. New York has the second highest per pupil expenditure in the nation ($16,794) but one of the lowest graduation rates (70.8 percent). The disparity in the District of Columbia is even greater – it has the third highest per pupil expenditure ($16,353) but the second lowest graduation rate (56.0 percent). Utah spent the least money per student -- just $7,197 per student, or $4.28 billion in total -- but had a solid graduation rate of 86 percent

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores have been brought up on this forum before. While any kind of standardized testing should be viewed very critically, the US definitely needs improvements.

The DR consistently falls last, and any politician who actually cares about improving their country would be giving education major attention.

Instead, we have a union leader in favour of online learning, after nearly 2 years without classes, in country where a large percentage of students don’t even have access to the luz to charge their device.

As I stated in the other thread, the Dominican education system is falling devastatingly behind and is comparable to the general state of overall affairs in Haiti.

 

[CristoRey]

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores have been brought up on this forum before. While any kind of standardized testing should be viewed very critically, the US definitely needs improvements.

The DR consistently falls last, and any politician who actually cares about improving their country would be giving education major attention.

Instead, we have a union leader in favour of online learning, after nearly 2 years without classes, in country where a large percentage of students don’t even have access to the luz to charge their device.

As I stated in the other thread, the Dominican education system is falling devastatingly behind and is comparable to the general state of overall affairs in Haiti.

Bingo!

 

[Auryn]

I believe the people running this country are quite satisfied with the way things are.
If they were not, they would be doing everything in their power to at least give these kids stuck in their dysfunctional public education system a chance at a decent life.

The amount of Ninis we are going to have running the streets in a few years is going to be staggering but hey...
so long as those tourism dollars keep following in we're good, right?

Let them eat cake.

 

[BermudaRum]

whatever happened to book learning.

One word; Google

 

[Ecoman1949]

Let them eat cake.

Auryn,

With education comes expectation. With expectation comes change. Change for a better standard of living for a strong middle class. The social and economic backbone of most developed countries.

A rising well educated middle class would be a threat to the decades old political culture of the DR. A culture of political nepotism, corruption, waste, and neglect. The current government will continue to throw money at educational hotspots to put out the political fires but nothing will improve over the long term without a proper focus.

Imagine the positive impact on the DR educational system if many of the political hacks in the DR legislature were replaced with properly elected teachers and university professors. It happened in my province in the early 60’s.

Two other notes.

I did hear that one of the baseball recruiting clubs in the DR requires players they sign to complete their education while training. The Pittsburgh Pirates, I think. If that is the case, then good on them. Anything that motivates kids to get an education is a good thing.

I’ve seen first hand the quality of the Evangelical school in Luperon. I was impressed. I firmly believe in the separation of religion and state but, in some cases, I will admit that religious organizations can provide an education similar to private schools and a much better education than government.

 

[bob saunders]

The Catholic schools in Jarabacoa did a really good job for years but now that they have become " public schools" their quality of teaching has dropped considerably.

 

[NanSanPedro]

The Catholic schools in Jarabacoa did a really good job for years but now that they have become " public schools" their quality of teaching has dropped considerably.

Bob, you probably should elucidate some on that. Not understanding what or how it happened.

 

[chico bill]

One word; Google

Same for math. See any cashier in DR that can add without a Chinese $8 calculator ?
I often add the bill in my head before they can turn it on.

 

[josh2203]

PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores have been brought up on this forum before. While any kind of standardized testing should be viewed very critically, the US definitely needs improvements.

The DR consistently falls last, and any politician who actually cares about improving their country would be giving education major attention.

Instead, we have a union leader in favour of online learning, after nearly 2 years without classes, in country where a large percentage of students don’t even have access to the luz to charge their device.

As I stated in the other thread, the Dominican education system is falling devastatingly behind and is comparable to the general state of overall affairs in Haiti.

I'm from one of the countries with the consistently highest PISA score and just now when I read that Abinader goes to Europe for whatever reason, why does he (or Fulcar) never visit any other country to learn how education is organized there??? That has never been on any agenda as far as I have seen... Tourism, dinners, other c**p but nothing to do with learning/education/you name it...