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The Dominican Foundation and IDDI are dedicated to improving access to primary school education and literacy in the rural communities of the Dominican Republic. Our partners IDDI are dedicated to increasing the quality and access to education for the children throughout the Dominican Republic. Currently, there are numerous projects; however, two areas of focus are in the rural communities surrounding the sugar mills of Angelina and Cristóbal Colon, and the Monte Plata Province.
The Dominican Foundation and IDDI are dedicated to improving access to primary school education and literacy in the rural communities of the Dominican Republic. Our partners IDDI are dedicated to increasing the quality and access to education for the children throughout the Dominican Republic. Currently, there are numerous projects; however, two areas of focus are in the rural communities surrounding the sugar mills of Angelina and Cristóbal Colon, and the Monte Plata Province.
The goal is to reduce the educational disparities in these children, avoid dropouts that will include teacher and family participation to integrate the community in the teaching process.
Specifically, the main goals are:
- The educational reinforcement of the children
- Educating the parents, concentrating in literacy
- Teach the importance of education as a resource to get out of poverty
- Strengthen the volunteer promoter network that resides in the impacted area
- Providing the educators additional skills to elevate their educational levels
- Seek out students in an area, providing them support to become future educators.
Past/Current Initiatives:
Angelina and Cristobal Colon
This project focuses on seven rural communities surrounding the sugar mills of Angelina and Cristóbal Colon: Ingenio Angelina, Batey La Laura, Cañada del Negro, Ingenio Cristóbal Colón, Batey Contador, Batey Copellito and Batey Dos Hermanos.
The goal of the project is geared towards the people surrounding the sugar mills Angelina, and Cristóbal Colon, in the province of San Pedro de Macorís, totaling 3,890 people.
Most of the population in the sugar cane area are Dominican-Haitian, which means born in the Dominican Republic with Haitian ancestry. A significant number of Haitians, born in Haiti, and Dominicans descendants lived in this area before the sugar mills were installed.
The main economic activity in the area is the sugar cane; other main activities are cement and free zone industries. Those that are not linked to these jobs do odd jobs or sell anything they can.
According to the study "Focalización de la Pobreza en la República Dominicana" or "Poverty in Focus in the Dominican Republic," (ONAPLAN, July 2003), the province of San Pedro de Macorís, 59.5% of the houses are in poverty conditions. The poverty in these rural communities reaches up to 88.7% of the population.
Problem or necessity that will be broached:
- Only 36% of the teachers have a college degree
- Absentees and dropouts are not seen as a problem
- The incentive to go to school is for the breakfast
- The parents send the children to tend other tasks such as burn carbon, tending cows, and cutting sugar canes during school hours.
- The cost of high school is too high and not easily accessible.
- The overall education quality is at a very low level
- 32% of the parent do not have any level of education
- There is a strong lack of educational resources, equipments, technology and furniture for the schools.
- The courses most frequently given are: electricity, home economics, farming, etc.
Monte Plata Province
The Dominican Foundation’s and IDDI's goal is to improve access to education for children between the ages 3 to 5 years in the poor rural communities of Mata Santiago de Mena, Sierra del Agua, Comatillo and Platanal, in the Bayaguana municipal, Monte Plata province.
One of the challenges facing improving education in these communities is the large school absenteeism. The primary cause of these school absences is the state of poverty these families face, Second there is a scarcity of teachers to be found in this area. And finally, little importance is placed on education by the parents due to their own illiteracy and lack of knowledge.
The project’s goal is to develop educational activities that stimulate the integral development of these children and involve their parents and relatives participation, including:
- Strengthen the community’s organizations that focus on education.
- Train community promoters and teachers
- Reconstruction and equipping classrooms The main problems that will be broached with the present project are:
If you would like to know about other primary education and literacy projects the Dominican Foundation, and its partners IDDI, are involved in, please contact us at info@dominicanfoundation.org.
 
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