Pre-school education in the Dominican Republic in the last decades has advanced particularly in urban regions. We have to recognize the countless benefits of preschool level since it improves the preparation and development of social and cognitive abilities, including early literacy, basic elements for moving to primary education.
However, boys and girls who live in remote rural communities don’t have those benefits because schooling for those higher levels does not reach that far. That is why they start school at 6 when children in urban zones have at that age already acquired notions of literacy.
Also, many parents of the same areas of low schooling have themselves low schooling so they do not motivate their children to go to educational centers. For many, which violate the rights of the children, the most important –in those zones- is that the child be in a productive mode, one that generates income for supporting the family.
ILAC understanding the importance of early education and the low educational level of the families from rural zones, promotes pre-school and homework classrooms with the purpose that the boys and girls have the opportunity to participate in spaces to promote the formation of values, promoting a culture of peace and solidarity as fundamental elements for the coexistence of people in the communities.
Also in the educational centers children from rural areas are prepared for a formal education and parents are integrated in the process of teaching and learning with courses and activities that aim to improve their schooling.
Schooling is imparted a creative manner taught by teachers-male and female-chosen in the communities. These teachers are taught Methodology of Advanced and Effective Education. It is taught to promote the effective development of childhood communication, the language and the social abilities, active hands in learning, usage of arts including free hands and drawings among others.
From the beginning, more than 400 boys and girls in rural areas have been taught and prepared for the primary level, contributing to their academic, emotional, and social formations.
The objectives implemented by ILAC in rural communities are:
- Enhance educational coverage for 5 year-old boys and girls in remote rural communities.
- Favor the integral development of youth through family participation.
- Train mothers and fathers in the basic development of children.
- Develop in children habits that will allow them to conduct themselves with assurance in a family and educational environment
- Develop in boys and girls the potential to take part in basic education.
Characteristics of the boys and girls who attend the educational centers:
- Boys and girls from poor families in rural communities.
- Boys and girls that do not have access to pre-school centers and do not have the necessary encouragement to develop their basic functions according to their age.
- Boys and girls without possibility of having a personal cultural point of reference. Such lack affects their formation and a cohesive identity.
Where are the centers located?
Lajas, Municipio de Fantino, Provincia Sánchez Ramirez
Comedero, Municipio Fantino, Provincia Sánez Ramirez
Ceboruco, Distrito Municipal de Canca, Provincia Santiago de los Caballeros
Limonal. Distrito Municipal de Las Palomas, Provincia de Santiago de los Caballeros
Batey II, Municipio de Esperanza, Provincia Valverde de Mao.