Government tells what it is doing to boost the quality of public education

[Dolores]

Speaking at the Presidential Palace on 19 October 2022, President Luis Abinader detailed new initiatives of the Minsitry of Education now under Minister Angel Hernandez. The Presidency spoke of new efforts underway at the Ministry of Education to hire more public school teachers and provide these with training and continuing education programs. President Abinader was accompanied by Vice President Raquel Peña, Presidency Minister Joel Santos and Education Minister Ángel Hernández. Hernandez was named in August 2022.

The efforts call for the construction of classrooms, and equipping of polytechnical institutes. Public school teachers will benefit from special financing to purchase their homes.

President Abinader said the aim is to make public spending on education more efficient. For two years, the press followed the wasteful...

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[Kipling333]

What a herculean task!! When a previous government legislated that spending on education must be at least 4% of the the annual budget expenditure, there was a rush to build new schools but there was no thought as to where and so, in the East at least, some of these buildings stand unused. No thought appeared to have been given as to the desirability of increasing the sizes of existing schools. The advantages of having larger schools with good learning and sporting facilities are obvious , except in the cases of junior schools which are best close to home. School buses to a well thought out school are far better than the scattering of small schools that are cramped and inefficient.
As far as the education of teachers is concerned , at present it seems that it is the poorly educated teaching others. Although I know that some Universities here have degrees in Education, I am not sure if there is a Teachers College that has only the one purpose . There are in GB, Australia,NZ and I think the USA. A Teachers College can have lecturers and professors from countries where the standard of education is higher and so within 3 or 4 years we may see an improvement in Dominicans who wish to teach. I do not think that is worthwhile debating how low the education standard is here ,it just has to be accepted . The quickest way to improve the situation is to have a large dedicated Teachers College staffed by people from people from countries with a much higher standard of education .

 

[NanSanPedro]

Teacher Colleges are only good if they create subject matter experts. One or 2 classes on how to teach is all anyone really needs. The rest of the program needs to be concentrated on the subject(s) the person wants to teach.

The last thing the DR needs to do is follow the USA government schools example.

 

[bob saunders]

Teacher Colleges are only good if they create subject matter experts. One or 2 classes on how to teach is all anyone really needs. The rest of the program needs to be concentrated on the subject(s) the person wants to teach.

The last thing the DR needs to do is follow the USA government schools example.

Spain has a decent education system as does Chile. There is no reason the DR can't adopt the best practices from a number of countries. I am sure that for the right incentive they could get teachers from Estonia....etc. to set up a good teacher's program.

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

They closed the public school in the Camboya/Palmerito area of Barahona and did not replace it. All the other public schools within range were full. Had to go to SD to get something from "El Distrito" to get an order to enroll in a Catholic school. Which involves tuition and mandatory different uniform, shoes and backpacks. Why every school assigns specific shoes is a mystery. They all require black shoes, also a mystery.

 

[NanSanPedro]

They closed the public school in the Camboya/Palmerito area of Barahona and did not replace it. All the other public schools within range were full. Had to go to SD to get something from "El Distrito" to get an order to enroll in a Catholic school. Which involves tuition and mandatory different uniform, shoes and backpacks. Why every school assigns specific shoes is a mystery. They all require black shoes, also a mystery.

Same thing in Haiti. It's just engrained in their culture. They don't even know why anymore. It's sad to waste $ like that. When you question it, they look at u like u have 4 heads.

 

[bob saunders]

They closed the public school in the Camboya/Palmerito area of Barahona and did not replace it. All the other public schools within range were full. Had to go to SD to get something from "El Distrito" to get an order to enroll in a Catholic school. Which involves tuition and mandatory different uniform, shoes and backpacks. Why every school assigns specific shoes is a mystery. They all require black shoes, also a mystery.

Well, we say black shoes as well, but we don't care what type they are as long as they are suitable for a school environment, so no high heels. The Catholic schools in Jarabacoa are semi-public, meaning they can only charge a very small tuition. The cost for most private schools other than the bi-lingual or elite ones is very affordable in all but the very poorest Dominicans.

 

[Kipling333]

I am sorry that Nansanpedro is not aquainted with Teachers Colleges that have been operating in the UK and most Commonwealth countries with outstanding success. Correct teaching is a skill that is acquired after years of training and experience..it most certainly is not just one or two classes. The educational system in the USA is far superior than in most other countries. In a teachers college, the teachers are taught all the basic subjects and also specialist subjects as well as being taught how to teach at the right pace, how to deal with classes of students that have varying standards of students and how to handle students who are resisting being taught. The teaching skills needed for students under 10 years of age are far different than those needed to teach students in their last two years prior to university. It is far better to have a teachers college providing degree and masters courses with high class lecturers and professors than to have 6 or 7 universities providing a fairly useless degree in Education.

 

[Drperson]

No classes here tomorrow. Another teachers meeting. Maybe just having classes every day is a good start.