School Systems in the dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic offers a high standard of quality education within the public, private, religious and International school systems.
The education system is free and compulsory at difference levels.
Pre-schoolers enroll from age 3 – 6 years old, but only the last year is compulsory.
Primary school is compulsory for children aged 6 – 14 years old, but not strictly enforced.
Students aged 14 – 18 is considered not mandatory.
Students are taught Math, Reading/Vocabulary, Writing/Grammar, Spelling/Phonics, Social Studies and Science, Spanish, English, French, PE and Music, Library, Art, Technology and Chapel in most public schools.
School starts at 8:00am till 3:00pm, Monday through Friday.
Higher education is regulated by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. The Universities in the Dominican Republic for the most part are private, and costs are about the same as in the United States.
The Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, founded in 1538, is the oldest in the Americas and the only public university, it boasts of 12 campuses throughout the country.
International Schools are more flexible with timetabling and curriculum, this is ideal for expat students of families from multinational corporations, diplomats, executives or NGO staff. Languages range from English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. These schools provide accepted accreditation by the Dominican Ministry of Education and offer certificates to enter Dominican, European and US Universities. For students interested in attending university in Europe, they should consider a school where International Baccalaureate (I.B.) curriculum is offered.
Parents play an intricate part in enrolling their children in private and public schools, even among the less privileged. Literacy rates and school participation have risen greatly over the past years. Women in particular are becoming more educated and rising in social class due to this trend in places such as employment opportunities, locally, as public officials and governmental positions.
Educators are continually evaluated, and are rated higher in many aspects than other Latin American countries, but, still rank below many other countries.
