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.
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
Talking Smack about the DR.
July 29, 2008
We’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks but wanted to take time out to answer some of the questions we routinely receive in TheCandidacy.com mailbox. Here’s the first one we chose to address.
You’re a gringo and talk a lot of smack about the DR. What gives you the right? How would you like it if I (a Dominican) started a blog and trashed the States? If it’s so bad why don’t you leave?- Rafael in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez’s Global Aspirations
July 15, 2008
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez continues to take advantage of every opportunity possible to tell the Dominican people how smart he is instead of just leading the country as he promised. Most recently, according to DR1’s Daily News, instead of laying out his domestic plan for sky-rocketing fuel prices and a flimsy economy, he decided to share “his broader picture of the oil problems and listed his international efforts to tackle the problems on a global level.” Read more
Voting in the Dominican Republic
July 2, 2008
Today’s guest blogger is Chiri, a friend of Randall’s who has graced our pages before and started blogging back in January of ’05. She’s a Gibraltarian, cultural observer, and recovering revolutionary. -COS
As a DR resident whose cédula says NO VOTA (voting prohibited), I didn’t vote in last month’s election. And quite frankly, this was a relief, because choosing a candidate out of the crop on offer would have been a tough task. Read more
The Audacity of Dominican Politicians. How Much do Dominican Senators Make?
June 11, 2008
In the past, I described the U.S. Senate as a quasi-ruling class. I noticed that nobody cared to disagree with me. In this post I plan on calling Dominican politicians shameless. And I’m pretty sure that anybody with any knowledge of Dominican politics will agree with me without hesitation. Read more
The Dominican Reality
June 11, 2008
In the ABOUT THIS SITE section of TheCandidacy.com I use some pretty strong words to describe the geopolitical situation here in the Dominican Republic (where I have lived for 5 years and currently blog from). In particular, I mention “wide-spread political corruption, abysmal public education, environmental degradation, inadequate healthcare, and alarming crime rates”. I stand by those characterizations 100%. Not surprisingly, I have taken a little heat from some Dominican friends. So, let me now put those comments into perspective. Read more
Which Metro Ride is Safer? Japan or Santo Domingo?
May 28, 2008
Back in February, I posted one of the first videos taken of Santo Domingo’s brand new metro. The opening was a major piece of President Leonel Fernandez’s 2008 reelection campaign. In general, the metro has been celebrated by most Dominicans. However, in its first days of public use, there were major problems with crowd control which resulted in several injuries, including at least one broken leg. Read more
Capturing the Dominican Vote: Pt III: The “Race” to the White House
May 26, 2008
Today’s guest blogger is Mr. Lu, a Dominican-American born in the Greatest City on the Planet, Lawrence, Massachusetts. Educated at some fancy school in Massachusetts and an even fancier school in CT, Mr. Lu currently writes for dr1.com, while pursuing other interests like girls, books, basketball and rock and roll. Read more
The Significance of Voters from the Dominican Republic
May 20, 2008
How can Dominicans be significant this year in the US presidential election? Dominicans have a long way to go to be heard as a constituency in the US. (I say this with all due respect, since I’m about to gain a Dominican daughter-in-law!) Read more
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