Social and Political Issues
Based on my research and time so far with Accion Callejera, I have recognized that the school system in the Dominican Republic lacks funding to provide enough resources to all students. The schools cannot provide basic provisions to their students, such as pencils, paper, and water. And what they are able to provide is of limited quantity. The classrooms are overcrowded, and the curriculum is outdated. According to Dominican law, 4% of the GDP should be allotted to the education system. However, only about 2% is actually invested into the schools. In addition, teachers are not paid well. And with the low salary they have, some struggle to provide for themselves and their family. As a result, teaching is not as popular, and that leads to classrooms with a large number of students. Understaffed, the teachers do not have enough time to lesson plan and master the information they are teaching to their students. And if some students are struggling, he or she will not be able to receive individual assistance from the teacher if needed.
During my interview with Deyaniris (the teacher I work with at Accion Callejera), we talked about how sometimes a lack of funds can be frustrating. As an employee of Accion Callejera, she only receives the materials she is given, and improvisation is sometimes necessary to get the task done. However, she is a teacher because she wants to help other children. Her passion and drive to provide support to these children is the reason why she is a teacher today, not because of the money.
We discussed the pros and cons that she has experienced as a teacher. And she talked about how rewarding it was for her to see the children make progress. She also enjoys the relationship she has built and fostered with them, as the children are very loving. However, she mentions parents’ absence as an influential negative factor upon the children’s education. Some parents are always working to provide for the family, while others are not invested in the children’s education.
After the interview, I began to see a clearer picture of the social and political factors involved in the education system. Without support from the parents, it can be extremely difficult for the kids to stay in school, much less continue onto higher education. And politically, it is frustrating to many that the government has not allocated enough funds to fuel the education system. However, it is also important to note that the government may just not have enough funds in general to allocate to schools. Corruption in the government may exist, with those in power making sure the money is invested into other capital and not schools.
In the United States, I believe that schools are allocated enough resources, but the distribution may be uneven. Schools with a higher population may require more, but they must make do with they have. And social inequality plays a factor, with richer neighborhoods with better funded schools, and lower-income neighborhoods receive less funding.