NewsWhore
05-11-2011, 03:30 PM
As part of a series of investigative reports on the state of primary education in the Dominican Republic, Listin Diario's Doris Pantaleon reports today that 25% of Dominican children go to private schools. The choice is attributed to the declining quality of education in public schools. The Ministry of Education shows a registration of 671,304 students in 4,403 private schools, with around 30,000 classrooms and 40,000 teachers. Listin Diario reports that the average attendance rate at private schools in the Caribbean region is 10%. The reporter says the real number is not known, as in reality anyone can offer instruction to children and not register the service for which pay is received.
"Around 80% of the private schools have the same weaknesses in infrastructure, quality of education, training of teachers and educational tools in use as the public schools, while a minority offers education levels above the international averages, but these are off limits to a population where the average income is RD$11,000-RD$15,000 a month," writes the reporter. The reasons for choosing private schools include better security, fulfilling the school calendar, no strikes and no forced school closures or demands from the teachers, as is routine at public schools. Average fees are RD$25,000 for a year of education at a private school, but the low for a barrio private school is RD$15,000 a year, compared to RD$520,000 at an elite private school. Private education is therefore worth around RD$17 billion a year, or 0.84% of the Gross Domestic Product.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
"Around 80% of the private schools have the same weaknesses in infrastructure, quality of education, training of teachers and educational tools in use as the public schools, while a minority offers education levels above the international averages, but these are off limits to a population where the average income is RD$11,000-RD$15,000 a month," writes the reporter. The reasons for choosing private schools include better security, fulfilling the school calendar, no strikes and no forced school closures or demands from the teachers, as is routine at public schools. Average fees are RD$25,000 for a year of education at a private school, but the low for a barrio private school is RD$15,000 a year, compared to RD$520,000 at an elite private school. Private education is therefore worth around RD$17 billion a year, or 0.84% of the Gross Domestic Product.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)