The Ministry of Education spends millions of pesos each year to test its high school and mid school children. Over the past five years RD$97 million has been spent on what most experts will call “questionable” results. When Education Minister Alejandrina German called the test series a “bottomless money pit” she was not far wrong. The minister pointed put that each time the exam period rolls around the ministry has to come up with RD$10 million, and that doesn’t take into account the cost of printing up the test booklets. Last year over 300,000 students took the test and then-Minister\/Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch spent RD$10 million. This year there will be 280,000 students taking the test and the cost is said to be RD$22 million. Researchers say that the cost does not correspond to the benefits. Antinoe Fiallo told El Caribe reporter Itania Maria that a 2004 proposal could have managed the process better and gotten better results. There will be 171,000 eighth grade students taking the test, the rest are high school seniors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ministry of Education spends millions of pesos each year to test its high school and mid school children. Over the past five years RD$97 million has been spent on what most experts will call “questionable” results. When Education Minister Alejandrina German called the test series a “bottomless money pit” she was not far wrong. … <\/p>\n