Santo Domingo.– Dominican Secretary of Education Melanio Paredes urged businesspeople, the Church
and all his fellow citizens to support a campaign aimed at eradicating
illiteracy in three years.
Paredes said he hoped
churches, political parties' headquarters, and city councils become centers for
basic literacy teaching, and expressed the need to update the census about
illiterate people in the country.
According to the official, statistics about illiteracy
might be wrong, for there are people that,
"preserving their own dignity," assert to know how to read and write,
when in fact they do not. He estimated that nearly 739,000 Dominicans over 15 years old are illiterate.
A
group of Cuban advisers will be arriving in Santo Domingo next week to assess
local teachers. Cuba has developed the Yo
Si Puedo (Yes, I can) teaching method, which can be taught in most languages
and even dialects, as it is the case of Haiti´s creole.
Written by: Edward, 21 Mar 2009 3:38 AM
From: United States, Faux News: Unfair Imbalance
That means that 93% of Dominicans can read and write. Hopefully it will be 99% in 5 years
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Raul and Fidel will show us the way
From: United States
this is similar to the promise that Leonel made at the beginning of his first term that he would repair the electricity problem immediately. 14 years later, things are worse. to take this country from its present state to complete literacy in 3 years is the hallucination of a child. with guys like this running the department, one expects to see a further retrogression.
From: United States
it astonishes me that the political directorate had not asked Cuba for assistance before regarding literacy issues, given Cuba's legendary strides in that area. they speak spanish, are a stone's throw away, yet we have waited this long. the only positive in all this is that someone realises that the DR has no concept of what it takes to educate the populace.
From: Dominican Republic, Cabarete
Essentially the government does not want the populace to be literate. They will then know too much and the current regime(s) will be ousted. Keep the people stupid. A sad tale for this Country and many others.
From: United States
you are absolutely correct, drcabarete. the woeful statistics cannot be achieved by pure luck. there has to be good planning in order to acheive such dismal results.
From: United States
Bull... The authorities in the DR including the school chancellor want the people to be illiterate.
Dominicans are inbred with entitled corruption. Once they get into power they just want to steal more and more. Never having to be accountable.
If they educate people they will be ousted and lose the easy money. Never happen in the next 30 years.
From: United States
30 years sounds about right.
Written by: generoso, 21 Mar 2009 10:42 AM
From: United States, DR
If the investment in education is so low and we can't even pay teachers a reasonable salary, that dream seems to be far away.
I always said that if children are hungry is useless for them to go to school, and their parents view them as a commodity forcing them to work at an early age, to "contribute".
The cultural insistence that teenage single mothers have of getting pregnant at an early age is disturbing, and it originates in lack of education.
More of a problem that is not reflected in the census is the amount of Dominicans that can read and write, but their comprehension level is poor or they are "functionally illiterate", which are persons that can struggle to sign their name and maybe slowly read a newspaper, but when confronted with interpretation, they have no idea what they read.
Education is our biggest challenge, but we must eradicate hunger and poverty first.
Written by: zooma, 21 Mar 2009 10:46 AM
From: United States
Unfortuantely, this propaganda is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If the government really wants to eradicate illiteracy they need to do it in the schools. Stop underfunding the educational system to the point that: teachers are underpaid, school structures are not maintained to a point where some have no roofs, books are old deteriorated and in short supply, short on desks, short on teaching supplies, teacher to student ratios can be as high as one to eighty or higher, schools have to rely on community charity to provide even basic services. One cqn go on with more shortcomings, but you get the picture.
The government will eradicate illiteracy in the same manner it treats the schools.
From: United States
www.yachtaide.com
From: United States
as always, Prof G weighs in with great stuff. some people think of literacy as the ability to recognise one's name on a napkin. it is a little more than that. information and comprehension are even more important. why bother read if you have no idea of what you just saw?
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
" I tot I taw a Pudy Tat "................" It were it were a Pudy Tat " !
From: United States
easy on the Imperial at such an early hour, GC.
From: United States, Killeen, TX - Home of the 1st Cavalry
All of the above has been said ad nauseum.
Don't you people who live here think it about time to put the politicians feet to the fire and keep them there until the country get positive results???
We have talked this problem to death, the same as the problem with electricity and health care.
If you won't commit yourselves to working locally to accomplish these goals, you will still have the same situation in your GRANDCHILDREN's time.
GRT OFF YOUR COLLECTIVE ASSES AND START TO WORK/
NUFF SAID.
TexasBill
From: United States
Agreed TexasBill,
After 6 years of the same regurgitated rhetoric you know the authorities are complete morons.
Drugs, electric, education, crime, poverty... rinse and repeat.
The complete current government has to be replaced by a moral generation. And I do not see how they can do it, when they do not want to.
Written by: Edward, 21 Mar 2009 1:03 PM
From: United States, Faux News: Unfair Imbalance
Cuba helps the DR in health and education and DR helps Cuba with tourism. It's a win-win situation for everyone. Cuba has finally realized that state capitalism is not sustainable in the long run and the DR is moving from neoliberalism towards a social market economy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_market_economyWritten by: juanb, 21 Mar 2009 2:43 PM
From: Dominican Republic
The empowered have a vested interest in keeping the people illiterate. As to the number that are illiterate, I bet they don't count people who can read a baseball box score and nothing else. If the education budget stays so low, and the pay for the teachers never increases and the parents don't care about their children's education what will ever change?
Written by: generoso, 21 Mar 2009 2:51 PM
From: United States, DR
Edward
I agree on the social market economy. Laissez faire unrestricted capitalism is dead and is a stinking corpse.
We need hybrid economic theories, someone suggested centralized capitalist economies like in Japan and other Asian countries.
The days of pure capitalism or Reaganomics are dead whether you want to admit it or not.
The national socialist economic theories are resurfacing as well, those economic theories that made economic miracles in pre-war Germany and Japan and were discarded because of the obvious political implications after the defeat of the Axis forces.
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Written by: gouletcolonial, 21 Mar 2009 4:27 AM
From: Dominican Republic, santo domingo,calle comercio zona colonial
Raul and Fidel will show us the way
Actually, the Cuban Government is sending teachers to the Dominicans Republic. And Venezuela is exchanging oil for doctors and education.
From: Dominican Republic
Those "739,000" are not Dominican! THEY ARE ALL HAITIAN!!! Again we are throwing resources to the illegal foreigners in DR!
Written by: Edward, 21 Mar 2009 5:22 PM
From: United States, Faux News: Unfair Imbalance
Letrinadecaballovenenoso wrote:
"Those "739,000" are not Dominican! THEY ARE ALL HAITIAN!!! Again we are throwing resources to the illegal foreigners in DR!"
What a moron. So basically you are saying that 100% of Dominicans are literate and 100% of Haitians in DR are illiterate? LOL
From: United States
brilliant, Edward!!
Written by: antonioj, 21 Mar 2009 6:39 PM
From: Canada, home safe
One poster come into mind, let's hope he takes advantage....God knows how ridiculous he is.
It's creepy when that functionally illiterate idiot confuse proper grammar with google translate.
Written by: antonio1, 21 Mar 2009 7:20 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Av Santa Rosa, La Romana
"Dominican Secretary of Education Melanio Paredes urged businesspeople, the Church and all his fellow citizens to support a campaign aimed at eradicating illiteracy in three years."
Most Dominican regardless of grade learning can add 2 plus 2 and come up with the answer of 4. The challenge to assure that every boy and girl learn to read and write in 3 YEARS is durable.
From: United States, Yonkers, NY
Yeah, good luck with that. Maybe they should be sure the teachers can read and write first.
Written by: antonioj, 21 Mar 2009 9:37 PM
From: Canada, home safe
One poster come into mind, let's hope he takes advantage....God knows how ridiculous he is.
It's creepy when that functionally illiterate idiot confuse proper grammar with google translate.
Written by: brootto, 21 Mar 2009 9:45 PM
From: United States, South West Florida
even if they are haitians it does not matter, they would learn our language and would be productive member of our society and it will trickle down to their society and things will work out in the better of both haitians and dominicans the problem with us dominicans is that we want things to be spoon fed, we need to stop and compete and stop our nonsense of being superiol.
Written by: brootto, 21 Mar 2009 9:46 PM
From: United States, South West Florida
excuse my spelling and grammar
what's up dread my partner in crime.
From: Dominican Republic, Boycott Dominican Tourism
Written by: letroudeballeGeneroso, 21 Mar 2009 4:22 PM
From: Dominican Republic
Those "739,000" are not Dominican! THEY ARE ALL HAITIAN!!! Again we are throwing resources to the illegal foreigners in DR!
letroudeballeGeneroso, I have met Dominicans that now live in the United States. And a lot in DR that had no education. Several could not read or write, the last time I was in the Dominican Rep, I met girls that could not read or write.
people like you, all the want to due is point the finger.
Written by: jacirez 
, 22 Mar 2009 4:09 PM
From: Iran, Zähedän
Say what you will; but I clearly remember the three PRD goverments (Antonio Guzmàn Fernandez/Jacobo Majluta in 1978-1982; Salvador Jorge Blanco in 1982-1986 & Hipolito Mejia in 2000-2004) all three of these goverments could only be described as cleptocracies, with corrpution, nepotism and cronyism being the other of the day.
All I know is that we have made progress in the 1996-2000, 2004-2008 and now that we did not experienced in the PRD years.
We should be praising LF for his efforts (Dominican Republic wants to eradicate illiteracy in 3 years); but we instead spend the whole day bitching and complaining. While the rest of the world is getting their s#$t together, we continue to do the same stupid things we've done during the past 50 years. We are no longer a third world country. We should start acting like the educated, powerful economy we are...
THE WORLD IS LEAVING US BEHIND!!!
From: United States
what is this, jacirez? copy and paste day?
From: United States
glad to see the journalists and also generoso's fine comment bring attention to the issue of functional literacy. antonio1 I agree it is possible , and necessary, to have an ambitious goal. Anything else promotes the procrastination that seems to flow so easily from these governments.
From: Dominican Republic
Edward learn this and quickly! Haitian are illiterate in SPANISH! Therefore, they are not functional in DR! Many of the children in Dajabon, Enriquillo, San Pedro de Macoris, Villa Mella, La Altagracia (Bavaro), and Bateyes, etc. ARE HAITIAN! AND THERE 2 million PLUS Haitian in DR!
So the latrine is you! Who can't count correctly and can't tell who is Haitian and who is not! Right now many primary schools in DR are teaching Haitian children free of charge (we pay for this). So you just defecated on your own face! Crazy Haitian!
From: Dominican Republic
This for all the idiots who think they know about education. Education is not just building and salary payed staff. To educate a person it takes good teachers, good parents, and a good neighborhood (assuming the individual does not sabotage him or herself and cooperates). Provided that the individual does not have a physical impairment to learning, a stable home (coaching, meal, home, transportation, health, etc.) and neighborhood is required!
The bottom line is that if any of those factors fails, throwing money at schools WILL FAIL! So don't come here to make politics about school budget and/or test scores without looking at the other influecing factors!
From: United States
candidate for the most egregiously stupid remark of the millenium'
Edward learn this and quickly! Haitian are illiterate in SPANISH! Therefore, they are not functional in DR! Many of the children in Dajabon, Enriquillo, San Pedro de Macoris, Villa Mella, La Altagracia (Bavaro), and Bateyes, etc. ARE HAITIAN! AND THERE 2 million PLUS Haitian in DR!
i guess that all the foreign businessmen, who probably know less spanish than your average Haitian, are not functional in the DR. i wonder how people like Trump manage to survive in the DR business ecosystem, being functional illiterates, and all.
From: United States
Well it's good to know that at the very least they are trying to promote complete literacy for the Dominican people. I hope that this plan is able to be carried out.
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Bull... The authorities in the DR including the school chancellor want the people to be illiterate.
Dominicans are inbred with entitled corruption. Once they get into power they just want to steal more and more. Never having to be accountable.
If they educate people they will be ousted and lose the easy money. Never happen in the next 30 years.
I always said that if children are hungry is useless for them to go to school, and their parents view them as a commodity forcing them to work at an early age, to "contribute".
The cultural insistence that teenage single mothers have of getting pregnant at an early age is disturbing, and it originates in lack of education.
More of a problem that is not reflected in the census is the amount of Dominicans that can read and write, but their comprehension level is poor or they are "functionally illiterate", which are persons that can struggle to sign their name and maybe slowly read a newspaper, but when confronted with interpretation, they have no idea what they read.
Education is our biggest challenge, but we must eradicate hunger and poverty first.
Unfortuantely, this propaganda is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If the government really wants to eradicate illiteracy they need to do it in the schools. Stop underfunding the educational system to the point that: teachers are underpaid, school structures are not maintained to a point where some have no roofs, books are old deteriorated and in short supply, short on desks, short on teaching supplies, teacher to student ratios can be as high as one to eighty or higher, schools have to rely on community charity to provide even basic services. One cqn go on with more shortcomings, but you get the picture.
The government will eradicate illiteracy in the same manner it treats the schools.
Don't you people who live here think it about time to put the politicians feet to the fire and keep them there until the country get positive results???
We have talked this problem to death, the same as the problem with electricity and health care.
If you won't commit yourselves to working locally to accomplish these goals, you will still have the same situation in your GRANDCHILDREN's time.
GRT OFF YOUR COLLECTIVE ASSES AND START TO WORK/
NUFF SAID.
TexasBill
Agreed TexasBill,
After 6 years of the same regurgitated rhetoric you know the authorities are complete morons.
Drugs, electric, education, crime, poverty... rinse and repeat.
The complete current government has to be replaced by a moral generation. And I do not see how they can do it, when they do not want to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_market_economy
I agree on the social market economy. Laissez faire unrestricted capitalism is dead and is a stinking corpse.
We need hybrid economic theories, someone suggested centralized capitalist economies like in Japan and other Asian countries.
The days of pure capitalism or Reaganomics are dead whether you want to admit it or not.
The national socialist economic theories are resurfacing as well, those economic theories that made economic miracles in pre-war Germany and Japan and were discarded because of the obvious political implications after the defeat of the Axis forces.
From: Dominican Republic, santo domingo,calle comercio zona colonial
Raul and Fidel will show us the way
Actually, the Cuban Government is sending teachers to the Dominicans Republic. And Venezuela is exchanging oil for doctors and education.
Letrinadecaballovenenoso wrote:
"Those "739,000" are not Dominican! THEY ARE ALL HAITIAN!!! Again we are throwing resources to the illegal foreigners in DR!"
What a moron. So basically you are saying that 100% of Dominicans are literate and 100% of Haitians in DR are illiterate? LOL
It's creepy when that functionally illiterate idiot confuse proper grammar with google translate.
Most Dominican regardless of grade learning can add 2 plus 2 and come up with the answer of 4. The challenge to assure that every boy and girl learn to read and write in 3 YEARS is durable.
It's creepy when that functionally illiterate idiot confuse proper grammar with google translate.
what's up dread my partner in crime.
From: Dominican Republic
Those "739,000" are not Dominican! THEY ARE ALL HAITIAN!!! Again we are throwing resources to the illegal foreigners in DR!
letroudeballeGeneroso, I have met Dominicans that now live in the United States. And a lot in DR that had no education. Several could not read or write, the last time I was in the Dominican Rep, I met girls that could not read or write.
people like you, all the want to due is point the finger.
All I know is that we have made progress in the 1996-2000, 2004-2008 and now that we did not experienced in the PRD years.
We should be praising LF for his efforts (Dominican Republic wants to eradicate illiteracy in 3 years); but we instead spend the whole day bitching and complaining. While the rest of the world is getting their s#$t together, we continue to do the same stupid things we've done during the past 50 years. We are no longer a third world country. We should start acting like the educated, powerful economy we are...
THE WORLD IS LEAVING US BEHIND!!!
So the latrine is you! Who can't count correctly and can't tell who is Haitian and who is not! Right now many primary schools in DR are teaching Haitian children free of charge (we pay for this). So you just defecated on your own face! Crazy Haitian!
The bottom line is that if any of those factors fails, throwing money at schools WILL FAIL! So don't come here to make politics about school budget and/or test scores without looking at the other influecing factors!
Edward learn this and quickly! Haitian are illiterate in SPANISH! Therefore, they are not functional in DR! Many of the children in Dajabon, Enriquillo, San Pedro de Macoris, Villa Mella, La Altagracia (Bavaro), and Bateyes, etc. ARE HAITIAN! AND THERE 2 million PLUS Haitian in DR!
i guess that all the foreign businessmen, who probably know less spanish than your average Haitian, are not functional in the DR. i wonder how people like Trump manage to survive in the DR business ecosystem, being functional illiterates, and all.