Education in the Dominican Republic is in a State of Crisis
August 20, 2008
In part I of this post, I mentioned how colonialism and imperialism have no doubt affected the growth of the Dominican Republic. However, I also proposed that those reasons alone do not tell the whole story. It’s been a long time since Spanish conquistadors and pirates plundered the Caribbean and 40 years since the last foreign military interference on Dominican soil. So, at the end of the day there must be other more immediate reasons for the country’s state of perpetual development. While there are likely many factors that contribute to our struggle, I propose that the current crisis in public education, rampant corruption, and an inability to prioritize is what’s killing the country. And, as I stated before, this cannot go on forever. Today’s post will focus on education and over the next day or two we’ll tackle corruption and priorities. Each of these issues are sure to generate discussion and thus deserve to be unpacked separately. I look forward to your comments and criticism.
Currently only 1 in 10 Dominicans graduate from high school. That means that 90% of the population lacks the basic educational skills needed to advance (or maintain) Dominican society, much less compete in an increasingly globalized world. Worse, it means that all of our professionals (doctors, lawyers, educators, politicians, etc.) come from a pool that only represents 10% of the country’s human capital. To make matters worse, those lucky enough to be in that “top 10%” graduate from the public school system which, according to a recent study of 15 Latin American countries (DR1 Daily News 8/1/08), is in a state of crisis (in addition to overall poor quality and funding, the average student only receives 2.5 hours of instruction per day under horrendous conditions.)
In 2006, President Leonel Fernandez’s PLD won a majority of both houses of the Dominican congress (Chamber of Deputies and Sendaores.) The first order of business? These new functionarios were given “courses on etiquette aimed at helping them to learn how to behave at public and private functions, table manners, and to dress correctly for every occasion” (Diario libre 9/1/06.) This did not inspire confidence in anyone who was paying attention. How can we expect the men and women of our government to have the intellectual maturity, wisdom, and education to fix the complex educational, economic, and institutional problems of a struggling country when they must first be taught how to eat with utensils? The acquision of basic manners typically comes before any real education and not vice-versa. Although, I must admit, when I was 12 years old I waited in line directly behind Tip O’Neil as he fed himself raw seafood from a buffet using only his hands (true story.)
The U.S. has plenty of leaders who are not worth their weight in fool’s gold, but I’d venture to say that the majority have studied and worked in their fields of endeavor. In addition, there are legions of public service schools where, for better or worse, many of our future bureaucrats are bred. In addition to the crisis around primary and secondary level education, the Dominican Republic lacks these higher-learning institutions and, as a result, we end up with ambassadors who know nothing about diplomacy, ministers who know nothing about their particular ministries, and tens of thousands of others who fill unnecessary government jobs for no other reason other than their party affiliation. This reality should scare the hell out of anyone who cares about the country.
Those in the “bottom 90%” (non-high school graduates) are literally being left in the dust and have almost no hope of ever bettering their situations. Worse yet is the realization that even if we woke up tomorrow with a perfect educational system it woud likely take several generations before tangible progress would be realized. Thus, we are looking at millions and millions of people for whom there is very little hope and a country which will more than likely be left further and further behind.
I’ll leave you with a quote from economist Robert Kaplan.
“Only in a society where most people can read, that has a sizable middle class that pays taxes, and reasonable institutions manned by literate bureaucrats, where people do not have to worry about being killed or attacked by their neighbors, will democracy unleash all that is best in a society. Only then will democracy lead to more transparency, more honesty, higher growth rates.”
I look forward to reading your comments.
Sometimes Mother Nature Conspires Against You
August 18, 2008
It’s been a rough few days at TheCandidacy.com headquarters in the Dominican Republic. A tropical depression dumped a significant amount of rain on the Capital and, you guessed it, caused problems with electricity and internet services. Read more
Why Doesn’t the Developing World Develop?
August 15, 2008
I’ve received some interesting email and comments regarding Wednesday’s post about surving in the third world. Each seemingly asking the same question – why? Why is it that much of the developing world is always developing? Why is it that in 2008 the differences between the developed and developing worlds are growing faster than ever? Read more
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s EPIC FAIL
August 14, 2008
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi aren’t busy presiding over the 110th Congress, they can be seen pitching their insanely boring, uninspiring, and disastrous books which have only sold a combined 6,500 copies. Read more
3 Things you Need to Survive in the Third World
August 13, 2008
The electric company is allegedly upgrading the service in my sector of Santo Domingo. As a result, the power goes out every Wednesday at 8AM and comes back on at around 5PM. Other than those times, I always have service unless, of course, they turn it off for some other reason or it’s raining. Read more
Should Voting be Compulsory in the United States?
August 12, 2008
Recently I wrote about the unreliable youth vote in the United States and conducted a poll of TheCandidacy.com’s readers asking if the U.S. should welcome international election observers. Both posts received a flurry of comments and opinions. So, in keeping with that theme, I’d like to propose a new poll question – Should Voting Be Compulsory in the United States? Read more
Video Games, Nintendo Wii, John McCain and Grand Theft Auto IV
August 8, 2008
“It’s 95 degrees in Santo Domingo and I’ve had a few problems lately with electricity, water and internet. Thus, I’m exhausted and am taking the day off! Here’s a completely off-topic but interesting post from one of my former students-turned-entrepreneur about gaming. Senator McCain admits to being technologically illiterate. I wonder what he would think of senior citizen gamers who play Xbox, PS2 and Wii. - RHM” Read more
Vote or Lie
August 7, 2008
I’ve received a few emails asking what I think about recent polls showing Obama and McCain in a tight election race. My answer – What race? The 2008 Presidential race hasn’t yet started in earnest. Neither side has announced their Vice Presidential pick (each is probably waiting for the other to blink first), there are no scheduled debates until September, and the 110th Congress is on vacation. Read more
2 Things That will Never Happen: Punishing the Mohammed Cartoonists and Reforming the Muslim World (Part III of III)
August 6, 2008
(If you haven’t read parts I and II of this post please go back and do so now. If not, the wrap-up may not make a whole lot of sense to you.)
Believe it or not my intention here was not to insult Kourosh or anybody else, although I surely have just by mentioning the double standard. Our friend Kourosh himself mentioned “the prophet Jesus” in one of his posts right here on TheCandidacy. Read more
2 Things That will Never Happen: Punishing the Mohammed Cartoonists and Reforming the Muslim World (Part II of III)
August 5, 2008
If you haven’t read Part I of this post you need to do so immediately. I’m on a roll and don’t have the time or patience to summarize. So, let’s jump right in where I left off yesterday. Read more
-
VOTE FOR THECANDIDACY.COM
