Santo Domingo.- Schools which offer bilingual education have already set their rates for the 2011-2012 school year with jumps as high as US$650 (RD$24,000) annually, newspaper Hoy reports.
A year’s cost in a bilingual school or the so called “immersion program” can be as much as RD$56,000 for a previously registered student or as high as RD$30,000 additionally for a returning one, though varies according to the educative center and the grade.
The cost is beyond the reach of most Dominican families whose income falls below RD$10,000 per month, while the better schools even set fees in dollars.
Among the country’s most famous figures the Carol Morgan School, whose 2011-2012 school year for a first grade is US$10,233, or US$298 higher than the current school year. For a first time student there’s an additional US$3,900 per family and US$5,400 registration fee per student.
Both amounts are one time payments, but for the next school year there’ll be an increase of US$160 for the first and US$150 for the second.
A Carol Morgan student in their fourth year of high school now pays US$14,470, but will climb to US$15,109 next year (2011-2012), or US$639 more.
The local side
Just a few blocks away from Carol Morgan in the upscale sector Bella Vista, the also famous Catholic School San Juan Bautista, the monthly cost per student is RD$3,400, but their bilingual program is deficient in the higher grades and not available in the lower ones.
Although the Education Ministry has made an effort to provide English as a second language through its “immersion program,” business and educational leaders often warn that the population is lagging behind the region in its ability to speak a foreign language.
From: United States, Yonkers, NY
If public school was more than 4 hours a day, there might be time to teach a little english.
Written by: xwill7, 22 Feb 2011 10:22 AM
From: United States, El cuarto bate
Yes, school is too short in DR
Written by: martin, 22 Feb 2011 10:31 AM
From: United States, boston to S.P.M 23
u al right only 3HR and 30 minutes
Written by: Dwayne, 22 Feb 2011 11:15 AM
From: Dominican Republic, www.dr-dominicanrepublic.com
And unfortunately what English they do get in schools is often very poor. I have a lot of Dominican friends with kids.
Often they come to my family to interpret their English homework. I often find the questions and instructions written by the "English" teacher barely makes sense, the corrected answers are wrong and the pronunciation is wrong. While it is probably better than nothing, it's hard for the kids to learn what the teachers don't even know.
Written by: jose_NYC, 22 Feb 2011 11:19 AM
From: United States, Brooklyn, NY - Santo Domingo, DR
i did 2 years in elementary in dr and it was from 8am to 12pm... no bs i have never had so much fun in school as i did in dr. i did go to private and bilingual school thou.
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
I teach , gratis, at three schools but maybe the school wants to make a charge . Although I had never taught before , I enjoy the experience very much and Iearn almost as much from my students as they do from me ...and what stories they tell me .
Even at $500 per annum , that is very cheap , as long as the teachers are good .. I am not sure where you are getting the figure of 4 hours but when I was at school in England our classes commenced at 9 am , after matins, and finished at 3 pm , with an hour for lunch so that was only 5 hours . There are many schools here that have a longer school day than that and I think the 4 hours must be the minimum
From: Dominican Republic
@ Ricardolito
The main issue is that those 4 hours are ghost numbers, finishing the school year we had around 2-3 hours of actual classes of 5. There were times when almost no class were given; most of my french and english classes we spend it talking and joking around after the teacher finished his teachings after only ten minutes and then he just sat there. Plus is the same curriculum over and over, in the same impractical manner.
Written by: Atabey, 22 Feb 2011 12:47 PM
From: United States, NYC
Ricardolito,
I agree with martingarata, you're out to lunch on this Rico. The quality and quantity of educational instruction are deficient in DR. Generally speaking the quality doesn't measure up; not even when compared to other similar nations, say Costa Rica for instance. The quantity of instruction is too often spotty and the organization, well let's just say it lacks systemic application and coherence.
Good quality schooling requires a well functioning, systemic organization, with quality staffing and materials. DR is far from having these conditions in a national sense. The only sense that qualifies for modern consideration. Having a few good schools when major qualitative and quantitative deficiencies remain the rule of the land can not qualify as adequate response in the modern world.
Pa' La Escuelita Aprender!!
From: Dominican Republic
the dominican republic will never grow politically, economically or otherwise unless all learns english!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
Atabey I am hardly out of touch when I teach 3 days a week in the capital and Santo Domingo and my classes go for 45 minutes each class and I see when the children start and when they go home . Yes , there are students in schools that only have morning school and others that have afternoon school but in my schools where the students are from poor families , i see so many tired faces
I wrote here on Friday that most problems are with the education department with many many schools too small to offer a proper selection of subjects or to provide back up support when teachers are away .
Atabey , I see every time the quality of teaching and the relationship , or should I say the lack of relationship , between the teachers and the students . I agree that there are many teachers who know very little english and so often they have problems in their classes as martingrata discovered but I can tell you that in my classes 45 minutes is the perfect time and 3 times a week is perfect also
Written by: razon, 22 Feb 2011 2:13 PM
From: United States, Florida
My co-workers were surprised when I tell them that I only had to go school from 8:00 am to noon. My kids tell me that I was lucky to do most of my school in D.R. Moreover, I was going to a private school which put a lot of emphasis on homework.
I don't think time is a problem, but the quality of schooling as many of you have alluded to.
From: Dominican Republic, vieja Santo Domingo
I want to mention 3 more problems that are in the classes, the first is that very few students can actually write decent spanish and so many think the verb hacer is aser and many think a ceveza is a cebeza ..the teachers are very poorly educated especially in poor schools
the next problem is that many text books in english are very bad and especially with verbs which are much easier in english than in spanish
and finally english is an optional subject rather than a compulsary subject ..all children should have a couple of years compulsary english before making it an option
From: United States
yep, 4 hrs of class a day is not good.
Those governemnt intensive courses may be good at heart but could be better....many of the teachers speak a level of English that, ahem, I wont consider English. The classes are crowded and cheating on unit tests is rampant. I worked there for a few months and my impression was that someone was giving money for the program but it seemed that little was actually reaching into the classrooms. However, i guess that something is better than nothing.
fees in bilingual schools go up like everything else. I dont know what kind of school this article considers bilingual but the ones I've seen that are accredited by some group (SACS/NEASC/CIS) , you usually get what you pay for...ie...North American teachers with certificates, US curriculum books and resources, etc.,...its hard to attract qualified teachers down here and get all your materials through customs (although its supposed to be tax free...but it doesnt happen)
Written by: anthonyC, 22 Feb 2011 2:31 PM
From: United States
"Dominican families can’t afford bilingual schools, Hoy reports"
Ok so some Dominicans can't afford to send their kids to private school.........So?
Actually this is a warning. The Social Moochers in the D.R. want to get their robbing mitts on some of the money in private education.
Written by: Atabey, 22 Feb 2011 2:58 PM
From: United States, NYC
Rico,
The quality and quantity are both major issues in DR. Again, I speak in overall general terms. Nationally the DR has a very spotty record of academic achievement. Again, one has to use comparative norms to see how far behind the DR is relative to say Costa Rica. While the quantity of instruction and academic achievement levels are not a one to one relationship, I would state that having a full 6 hours per day, 5 days a week, of quality instructional program for 200 days out of the year would do wonders nationally within just one educational cycle, 12 years, in DR.
The quality of the teaching staff leaves much to be admired in DR. In general, teachers in the DR have very poor academic preparation. In many cases, a substantial number of these teachers would never be allowed to call themselves, let alone be placed as teachers in most Latin American nations!!
Written by: Atabey, 22 Feb 2011 3:00 PM
From: United States, NYC
Teachers who instruct in math should have solid academic foundations in the subject, and the same goes for each major and minor subject area. Providing such qualitative achievement among the staff is a very tall challenge even for the better schools, to say nothing about the worse off schools in the nation. And as we all know, there are many poor academic schools for each good school in the nation. A sad fact but nevertheless a true one.
You make a valid point in regards to the poor Spanish level or competency of most students. I was once told and fully agree that one who is competent in any major language in the world, is fully capable of learning a second language. Recent scientific findings point to lower Alzheimer rates among dual language people. As for English instruction it would helpful if DR could get the US/Canadians to send native English instructors, screened retired teachers perhaps, to come to DR and help in the process. Time in the Sun for some English?
Written by: guest809, 22 Feb 2011 3:06 PM
From: United States
I am sad to read about the pricing of education in the DR. Especially so when making English the scape goat for poor instruction. When I am there I always try to make a point to give classes in conversational English. I want to make it fun for the student to comunicate in the other idioma. Once the student recognizes humor in the other language you generally have an enthusiastic student from there on. I try to always keep my classes no more than 8 students.
Written by: guest809, 22 Feb 2011 3:07 PM
From: United States
There are many good and enteresting approaches, but the main thing is to keep it simple and remember keep the government lack of educational stimulation out of the equation. Wouldn't it be fun to use the tourist while they are visiting the DR to stop by a small center of English just to visit a little with students that want to practice.? You will be surprised at how many would love to visit with the students in that manor. Lets be positive and learn English inspite of the lack of government help..I am gratefull for the kind
Written by: guest809, 22 Feb 2011 3:10 PM
From: United States
I am grateful for the kindness the Dominicans have shown me when I don't conjugate espanol verbs correctly, which is most of the time. But WE communicate and enjoy the process.
From: United States, Fresh Water Paradise-NY Finger Lakes
Reading above commentaries, much of which may be true, I do not suppose that a sudden infusion of >5% to the education budget would fix anything at all.
Fundamentally, you'd still have ill-prepared teachers-probably a direct outcome of same problem we complain about here-meaning that the problem cannot just be fixed with money. Assuming trickle down economics, perhaps teachers would wind up with a little more money and breakfast quality would improve. Heck, they might even purchase a few more books, a transaction in which some senator's cousin or wife would sure be involved. The book's content wouldn't matter much, so long as money is skimmed in process.
So, you see, we have a great deal of fixing in DR, affecting the entire nation's fabric, not the least of which being integrity and patriotism and the desire to achieve meaningful progress, on equal footing with at least our corner of the world. We would never catch up with the Japanese-ever!!!
MJEV.
Written by: fritz, 22 Feb 2011 8:39 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, Quisqeyia
Crazy!!! now you know where you get your corner market deliveries from..the kids that the parents could not afford to pay....What B/S..way too much!!
From: Canada
I see it's back to certain comments I posted a few days ago! There are many debates here. Many comments are excellent but in totally different fields of reality. 1) Giving as example the cost of a private school such as C. Morgan is not representative. The same would go for most American International Schools, French international schools, IBO programs, etc. The cost is out of reach for probably 99% of the "local" population. Ex-pats could affort such costs because their government will pay. We have some private schools here as well where the cost varies from Cdn 12,000 - 18, 000 / year + all other costs involved... There are more people from other countries in these schools than there are Canadians! 2) A university program costs on average 5,000-6,000$ /year (scolarity only). The rest is funded by the country. WHY should anyone, anywhere, think of spending 3 times that amount for kids in elementary and high school? Basic education is a human right.
From: Canada
(Cont.) It is the responsability of the country to assure the education the youth and train them (academics or trades) to become adults that will have an active role in the country. People have the right to a quality education in the PUBLIC system. 3) Of course, this demands a high investment. That's what a tax system pays for. 4) The whole education system probably has to be revised : not just material... Think class size. Who can work with 35-40 grade 1 kids when in most countries, the average is 22? (That's what they have in private schools). 5) How much time is lost for just about any reason? How many REAL school days are there in a school year? 5) Education is not only the responsability of the school. I read that kids are tired after 4 hours. Something wrong. There is a schedule to follow: classes, play, homework, supper, play, bed early. 6) As far as 2cd language, yes English would be a +. We live with 3+ languages here.
It is not a basic necessity for all.
Written by: abc200, 6 Mar 2011 4:01 PM
From: United Kingdom, Dominican Republic
Rubbish! In my primary school (7 - 111) in th UK class size was 40--50. Teachers just need to be organised to teach large classes..
When the UK was as poor as the DR class sizes were 80 +. In my secondary school many classes were 80 - others had untrained monitors suoervising set ( duplicated ) work.
Maybe creole would be good as a first second language as it is a gateway to French and there are many informal chances to pracice.
S.
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Often they come to my family to interpret their English homework. I often find the questions and instructions written by the "English" teacher barely makes sense, the corrected answers are wrong and the pronunciation is wrong. While it is probably better than nothing, it's hard for the kids to learn what the teachers don't even know.
Even at $500 per annum , that is very cheap , as long as the teachers are good .. I am not sure where you are getting the figure of 4 hours but when I was at school in England our classes commenced at 9 am , after matins, and finished at 3 pm , with an hour for lunch so that was only 5 hours . There are many schools here that have a longer school day than that and I think the 4 hours must be the minimum
The main issue is that those 4 hours are ghost numbers, finishing the school year we had around 2-3 hours of actual classes of 5. There were times when almost no class were given; most of my french and english classes we spend it talking and joking around after the teacher finished his teachings after only ten minutes and then he just sat there. Plus is the same curriculum over and over, in the same impractical manner.
I agree with martingarata, you're out to lunch on this Rico. The quality and quantity of educational instruction are deficient in DR. Generally speaking the quality doesn't measure up; not even when compared to other similar nations, say Costa Rica for instance. The quantity of instruction is too often spotty and the organization, well let's just say it lacks systemic application and coherence.
Good quality schooling requires a well functioning, systemic organization, with quality staffing and materials. DR is far from having these conditions in a national sense. The only sense that qualifies for modern consideration. Having a few good schools when major qualitative and quantitative deficiencies remain the rule of the land can not qualify as adequate response in the modern world.
Pa' La Escuelita Aprender!!
I wrote here on Friday that most problems are with the education department with many many schools too small to offer a proper selection of subjects or to provide back up support when teachers are away .
Atabey , I see every time the quality of teaching and the relationship , or should I say the lack of relationship , between the teachers and the students . I agree that there are many teachers who know very little english and so often they have problems in their classes as martingrata discovered but I can tell you that in my classes 45 minutes is the perfect time and 3 times a week is perfect also
I don't think time is a problem, but the quality of schooling as many of you have alluded to.
the next problem is that many text books in english are very bad and especially with verbs which are much easier in english than in spanish
and finally english is an optional subject rather than a compulsary subject ..all children should have a couple of years compulsary english before making it an option
Those governemnt intensive courses may be good at heart but could be better....many of the teachers speak a level of English that, ahem, I wont consider English. The classes are crowded and cheating on unit tests is rampant. I worked there for a few months and my impression was that someone was giving money for the program but it seemed that little was actually reaching into the classrooms. However, i guess that something is better than nothing.
fees in bilingual schools go up like everything else. I dont know what kind of school this article considers bilingual but the ones I've seen that are accredited by some group (SACS/NEASC/CIS) , you usually get what you pay for...ie...North American teachers with certificates, US curriculum books and resources, etc.,...its hard to attract qualified teachers down here and get all your materials through customs (although its supposed to be tax free...but it doesnt happen)
Ok so some Dominicans can't afford to send their kids to private school.........So?
Actually this is a warning. The Social Moochers in the D.R. want to get their robbing mitts on some of the money in private education.
The quality and quantity are both major issues in DR. Again, I speak in overall general terms. Nationally the DR has a very spotty record of academic achievement. Again, one has to use comparative norms to see how far behind the DR is relative to say Costa Rica. While the quantity of instruction and academic achievement levels are not a one to one relationship, I would state that having a full 6 hours per day, 5 days a week, of quality instructional program for 200 days out of the year would do wonders nationally within just one educational cycle, 12 years, in DR.
The quality of the teaching staff leaves much to be admired in DR. In general, teachers in the DR have very poor academic preparation. In many cases, a substantial number of these teachers would never be allowed to call themselves, let alone be placed as teachers in most Latin American nations!!
You make a valid point in regards to the poor Spanish level or competency of most students. I was once told and fully agree that one who is competent in any major language in the world, is fully capable of learning a second language. Recent scientific findings point to lower Alzheimer rates among dual language people. As for English instruction it would helpful if DR could get the US/Canadians to send native English instructors, screened retired teachers perhaps, to come to DR and help in the process. Time in the Sun for some English?
Reading above commentaries, much of which may be true, I do not suppose that a sudden infusion of >5% to the education budget would fix anything at all.
Fundamentally, you'd still have ill-prepared teachers-probably a direct outcome of same problem we complain about here-meaning that the problem cannot just be fixed with money. Assuming trickle down economics, perhaps teachers would wind up with a little more money and breakfast quality would improve. Heck, they might even purchase a few more books, a transaction in which some senator's cousin or wife would sure be involved. The book's content wouldn't matter much, so long as money is skimmed in process.
So, you see, we have a great deal of fixing in DR, affecting the entire nation's fabric, not the least of which being integrity and patriotism and the desire to achieve meaningful progress, on equal footing with at least our corner of the world. We would never catch up with the Japanese-ever!!!
MJEV.
It is not a basic necessity for all.
When the UK was as poor as the DR class sizes were 80 +. In my secondary school many classes were 80 - others had untrained monitors suoervising set ( duplicated ) work.
Maybe creole would be good as a first second language as it is a gateway to French and there are many informal chances to pracice.
S.