Private school owners have lost thousands of their teachers to the public sector that pays better.
Wage and benefits raises awarded since 2016 to public school teachers, nevertheless have not resulted in improvements in the quality of education. There is strong criticism that the sector continues to be highly politicized. The situation has not seem to improve with the change of government. The incumbent minister of Education himself was the electoral campaign director for President Luis Abinader.
On Friday, 25 March 2022, public school teachers striked at dozens of public schools around the country. The ADP that represents public school teachers is demanding a 25% increase and more benefits, including improvements in the pension plans. As reported, the Ministry of Education has offered a 7% raise. An EFE release indicates that the average salary of Dominican teachers today is around RD$57,000 a month. Most Dominicans make less than RD$20,000 a month. A report in El Caribe says that public school teachers make more than 94% of Dominican employees. The same report points out that only 12% of third graders could read fluently.
Read more in Spanish:
N Digital
El Caribe
28 March 2022