Quality education needs more than money, says Amelia Vicini

[Dolores]

Amelia Vicini, president of the Inicia Education Foundation’s board of directors, emphasized money isn’t everything when talking about education. The Dominican Republic has learned this the hard way after funneling billions into public education and having little to show in improvements in quality education.

When speaking during the Education Cannot Wait: Guaranteeing Conditions and Financing for a Better Future in Latin America and the Caribbean, the businesswoman said that while increased funding is crucial for improving education in the Latin American region, it is not sufficient on its own.

Vicini highlighted the need for effective management and oversight within education systems. “To ensure quality education, we need structures that are focused on providing a high-quality service, with stable, coherent, and consistent management over time,” she stated...

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[CristoRey]

Step one.
Government needs to actually care about the children stuck in this horrible
public education system which most of them would never dare let their children attend.
Show with actions, not words.

 

[drpesson]

Step one.
Government needs to actually care about the children stuck in this horrible
public education system which most of them would never dare let their children attend.
Show with actions, not words.

how very true. it would help too if they didnt close a school one day every week for a "meeting"

 

[NALs]

Obviously, more than money is needed to improve education. A few years ago the DR started applied the 4% of GDP and while there has been some improvements (especially in infrastructure) it isn’t enough.

With that said, there are some things of the DR’s public education that may be taken for granted. For example, with all the criticisms Dominican public education gets in the media (TV, radio, print and internet), it’s easy to think Dominican education is in the stone age in every aspect. This Cuban is a recent immigrant to the DR (not even a year old living in the country) and here explains (in Spanish) what has been her experience registering her son into the Dominican public schools system vs whst she experienced living in Cuba. Some lf what she said even shocked me and not necessarily because of the Dominican system (for example, she mentions that registering is very easy and quick in the DR because everything is digitize while in Cuba they still do things by hand!) Many other things she mentions (such as the kids are fed for free in Dominican public schools which obviously she likes a lot as she refers to it as “una maravilla”) are rather recent changes in the Dominican system (I think the school food started under Danilo Medina’s predidency) perhaps possible because of the 4%.

PS. Is Amelia Vicini still in the Board of Trustees of the Save The Children NGO which is based in Fairfield, Connecticut (I think they used to be in Westport, Connecticut right next to the Saugatuck River and the bridge that connects that area to downtown?) For some reason many years ago I was surprised to find a Dominican as a member of the Board of Trustees. If anything, it implies Amelia Vicini has had an interest in improving the lives of children in disadvantage and/or handicapped situation. I think there is no question her involvement with Save The Children was tied more to what that NGO did (and continue to do) in the DR and, perhaps, that NGO is more involved in the DR than otherwise because of her.

 

[Manuel01]

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For any abusive or corrupt Government. there is nothing more desirable than a uneducated or bad educated population. This is especially true for the DR. Also.....if you cant't educate them > DONT MAKE THEM

 

[drpesson]

one big issue is , even if they do have a decent education and go to university, what jobs are waiting for them here other that doctor lawyer teacher ?

 

[bob saunders]

one big issue is , even if they do have a decent education and go to university, what jobs are waiting for them here other that doctor lawyer teacher ?

Engineering, banking, business, computer science, architecture, graphic arts....etc. Jobs are rarely just waiting. lots of medical field jobs besides doctor.

 

[josh2203]

Step one.
Government needs to actually care about the children stuck in this horrible
public education system which most of them would never dare let their children attend.
Show with actions, not words.

Obviously you could not be more right, but I think it's pretty normal in the DR to talk with pretty words and promises while in reality little if anything is actioned. Then the topic is forgotten until someone else grabs the same topic and then all the people follow that person again with amazement. What happened in between, not much...

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

one big issue is , even if they do have a decent education and go to university, what jobs are waiting for them here other that doctor lawyer teacher ?

Wow. You win today's Darwin prize

 

[chicagoan14]

one big issue is , even if they do have a decent education and go to university, what jobs are waiting for them here other that doctor lawyer teacher ?

I would argue that is the biggest issue here is an opportunity for upward mobility. Unless you study something highly specialized, there's really no clear path to success (financial, who cares about accolades?)

Just huge disparities in income amongst similar degree fields. I've never seen anything like it before.

Private education is expensive here and many of the schools are the same. There's a pipeline between these purchased grades and mediocre kids getting into prestigious universities abroad that many people don't talk about.

I read once DR has one of the highest rates of doctors to citizens in the world. And zona francas complain engineers are studying on antiquated systems and mostly know theory.

I would never go to a university here. (if I did my 20's over again I would've never went to college) Although I became successful eventually, the best way would've been to do certs which we didn't know much about at that age.

People ask me what to do or study here and I mostly tell them go and learn English or get a cert in cybersecurity. if they don't have the resources or connections. Nepotism and connections are big here. In the states too, but I have never seen it like this. Top to bottom almost.

 

[chicagoan14]

Engineering, banking, business, computer science, architecture, graphic arts....etc. Jobs are rarely just waiting. lots of medical field jobs besides doctor.

True! 10 years ago very few people were studying anything but lawyer, doctor and engineer. By the time people caught on to this "tourism" degree, they had already missed the ship. You have people who speak English, studied 4 years just to be a receptionist at a hotel in PC.

 

[drpesson]

Engineering, banking, business, computer science, architecture, graphic arts....etc. Jobs are rarely just waiting. lots of medical field jobs besides doctor.

True! 10 years ago very few people were studying anything but lawyer, doctor and engineer. By the time people caught on to this "tourism" degree, they had already missed the ship. You have people who speak English, studied 4 years just to be a receptionist at a hotel in PC.

true

 

[drpesson]

I guess because I dont live in santo domingo or santiago I dont see many of these opportunities.
In my world here you get good jobs with a political connection. This is true with some banking insurance jobs , and teaching and medicine. To get a good Dr job at the better hospitals up pay big money (ie 5 million pesos).

 

[bob saunders]

True! 10 years ago very few people were studying anything but lawyer, doctor and engineer. By the time people caught on to this "tourism" degree, they had already missed the ship. You have people who speak English, studied 4 years just to be a receptionist at a hotel in PC.

My wife's cousin's daughter has a degree in international business. She worked for a number of years as a secretary for an international company in Santo Domingo. She now works for Meta, from her house. Her English is very good. Her husband is a consultant doing computer security....etc. , makes mega bucks. His English is also very good, although not as good as her. Her brother Hector works for the government managing a branch of the medical insurance. His English is also good. His actual profession is Electrical Engineering. Oldest girl is an ophthalmologist (married to a neurosurgeon) Father is a taxi driver and mom is a housewife.

 

[bob saunders]

I guess because I dont live in santo domingo or santiago I dont see many of these opportunities.
In my world here you get good jobs with a political connection. This is true with some banking insurance jobs , and teaching and medicine. To get a good Dr job at the better hospitals up pay big money (ie 5 million pesos).

This is the case in most countries, it's often who you, not what you know.

 

[chicagoan14]

My wife's cousin's daughter has a degree in international business. She worked for a number of years as a secretary for an international company in Santo Domingo. She now works for Meta, from her house. Her English is very good. Her husband is a consultant doing computer security....etc. , makes mega bucks. His English is also very good, although not as good as her. Her brother Hector works for the government managing a branch of the medical insurance. His English is also good. His actual profession is Electrical Engineering. Oldest girl is an ophthalmologist (married to a neurosurgeon) Father is a taxi driver and mom is a housewife.

Great isolated story. Good for them.

 

[chicagoan14]

This is the case in most countries, it's often who you, not what you know.

one would have a more fair chance of getting a decent-paying job based on merit in the US vs. here.

 

[bob saunders]

one would have a more fair chance of getting a decent-paying job based on merit in the US vs. here.

Or not, if all the jobs have gone to diversity hires.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

My wife's cousin's daughter has a degree in international business. She worked for a number of years as a secretary for an international company in Santo Domingo. She now works for Meta, from her house. Her English is very good. Her husband is a consultant doing computer security....etc. , makes mega bucks. His English is also very good, although not as good as her. Her brother Hector works for the government managing a branch of the medical insurance. His English is also good. His actual profession is Electrical Engineering. Oldest girl is an ophthalmologist (married to a neurosurgeon) Father is a taxi driver and mom is a housewife.

Aside from hard work, speaking English seems to be a recurring theme.

 

[CristoRey]

Aside from hard work, speaking English seems to be a recurring theme.

English is the global goto language around the world. In order to compete in today's "global economy"...