Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
include teacher training schools, polytechnics, and vocational
schools. All primary and secondary schools are under the formal
jurisdiction of the Secretariat of State for Education and
Culture (Secretana de Estado de Educacion y Cultura—SEEC)
In 1984 there were an estimated 5,684 primary schools and
1,664 secondary schools; by 1993 the former had increased to
6,207 and the latter had risen to 4,606.
Despite the compulsory nature of primary education, only
17 percent of rural schools offer all six grades. This fact
explains to some degree the low levels of secondary enrollment.
For those who do go on to the secondary level, academic
standards are low, the drop-out rate reportedly high; all but the
poorest students must buy their textbooks—another disincentive
to enrollment for many.
The government decreed major curriculum reforms at the
primary and secondary levels in the 1970s in an effort to render
schooling more relevant to students' lives and needs.
Expanded vocational training in rural schools was called for as
part of the reforms. Few changes had been fully implemented
even by the mid-1990s, however. The realization that these
reforms had been limited led in 1997 to the announcement of
a ten-year Plan for Educational Reform, which was approved by
and under the auspices of the Presidential Commission for
State Reform and Modernization.
Primary-school teachers are trained in six specialized secondary
schools and secondary-school teachers at the universities.
In 1973 an agreement for improving teacher training was
signed by three universities—the Autonomous University of
Santo Domingo (Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo
UASD), the Pedro Henriquez Ureha National University (Universidad
Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureha-—UNPHU), and
the Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher (Pontificia
Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra—UCMM)—and the
SEEC. However, although in 1982 roughly half of all teachers
lacked the required academic background, there has been only
modest improvement since then. A chronic shortage of teachers
is attributable to low pay (especially in rural areas), the relatively
low status of teaching as a career, and an apparent
reluctance among men to enter the profession.
Education expanded at every level in the post-Trujillo era.
Enrollment as a proportion of the primary school-aged population
grew by more than 20 percent between the mid-1960s and
the mid-1980s and that of the secondary school-aged popula-
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