Table Of ContentReviews of national policies for Education R
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Higher Education in the Dominican Republic ie
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The Dominican Republic has one of the strongest economies among the middle o Reviews of national policies for Education
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income countries of the world, and the Government has set itself ambitious goals n
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for its social and economic development. The development capacity of the country, t
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however, depends on its human capital – an area with considerable gaps due to major n
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shortcomings in the education sector at all levels. l p
Three years after the 2008 OECD review of education policies in the Dominican o the Dominican Republic
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Republic, the OECD was asked to assess the condition of higher education in the ie
Dominican Republic and to identify future policy options to help meet the nation’s s
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needs. o
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This OECD report provides an analysis of the higher education sector within the d
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economic, social and political context of the Dominican Republic. It looks into access, c
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quality and relevance, the effectiveness and governance of the system, its financing t
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as well as its research and innovation capacity. The report concludes with pragmatic n
recommendations for policy action.
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Context
Chapter 3. Access to higher education H
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Chapter 4. Quality, relevance and effectiveness h
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Chapter 5. Future demand for higher education r
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Chapter 6. The structure of higher education provision d
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Chapter 7. Sustainable financing c
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Chapter 8. Scientific research, technology and innovation tio
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Chapter 9. System steering and institutional governance in
Chapter 10. Conclusions and recommendations t
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Please cite this publication as: n
OECD (2012), Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in the Dominican R
e
Republic 2012, OECD Publishing. p
u
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264177055-en b
This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and lic
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isbn 978-92-64-17700-0 -:HSTCQE=V\\UUU:
91 2012 15 1 p
912012151.indd 1 30-Jul-2012 9:00:02 AM
Reviews of National Policies for Education
Higher Education in the
Dominican Republic
2012
This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD.
The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect
the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries.
This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of
or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and
boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Please cite this publication as:
OECD (2012), Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in the Dominican Republic
2012, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264177055-en
ISBN 978-92-64-17700-0 (print)
ISBN 978-92-64-17705-5 (PDF)
Series: Reviews of National Policies for Education
ISSN 1563-4914 (print)
ISSN 1990-0198 (online)
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3
FOREWORD –
Foreword
The Dominican Republic has one of the strongest economies among the
middle income countries of the world, and the government has set itself
ambitious goals for its social and economic development. The development
capacity of the country, however, depends on its human capital – an area
with considerable shortcomings due to major deficiencies in the education
sector at all levels.
Following the 2008 OECD review of education policies in the
Dominican Republic, the examining team was asked to assess the condition
of higher education in the Dominican Republic, to evaluate policies for
higher education and research, and to identify future policy options to help
meet the nation’s needs.
Against information and data supplied by the Dominican authorities, and
information provided in meetings in the course of the site visits, this OECD
report provides an analysis of the higher education sector within the
economic, social and political context of the Dominican Republic. It looks
into access, quality and relevance, the effectiveness and governance of the
system, its financing as well as its research and innovation capacity. The
report concludes with a list of pragmatic recommendations for policy action.
This review was undertaken as part of the Global Relations work of the
OECD Directorate for Education. The financing for the review was provided
by the Government of the Dominican Republic, with in-kind support from
the World Bank.
Members of the review team were: Michael Gallagher (Australia),
Rapporteur, Executive Director, Group of Eight Australian Universities; Ian
Whitman (OECD Secretariat), Team Leader, Head of the Programme for
Co-operation with Non Member Economies of the OECD Directorate for
Education; Mary Canning (Ireland), member of the Higher Education
Authority of Ireland, of the Royal Irish Academy and of the Governing
Authority of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and former Lead
Education Specialist, World Bank; Francisco Marmolejo (Mexico),
Executive Director, Consortium for North American Higher Education
REVIEWS OF NATIONAL POLICIES FOR EDUCATION: HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2012
4
– FOREWORD
Collaboration (CONAHEC) and Vice President for Western Hemispheric
Programs at the University of Arizona, United States; Javier Luque (World
Bank), Human Development Department for Latin America and the
Caribbean; Mihaylo Milovanovitch (OECD Secretariat), Policy Analyst,
Programme for Co-operation with Non Member Economies of the OECD
Directorate for Education; Simon Schwartzman (Brazil), President, Institute
for Studies on Labour and Society(IETS, Instituto de Estudos do Trabalho e
Sociedade).
Barbara Ischinger
Director for Education
REVIEWS OF NATIONAL POLICIES FOR EDUCATION: HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2012
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TABLE OF CONTENTS –
Table of Contents
Acronyms ............................................................................................................. 9
Executive Summary ......................................................................................... 13
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................... 27
Purpose and scope of the exercise .................................................................. 27
Request from the Dominican Republic........................................................... 28
The review team ............................................................................................. 28
Scope of the review ........................................................................................ 29
Sources of information ................................................................................... 29
Definitions of tertiary education programmes ................................................ 30
Chapter 2: Context ........................................................................................... 33
Background .................................................................................................... 33
Economy ......................................................................................................... 33
The social role of education............................................................................ 37
Population ....................................................................................................... 38
Educational attainment of the adult population of the Dominican Republic .......... 42
Previous OECD advice regarding higher education in the Dominican
Republic .......................................................................................................... 44
Responses and initiatives of the Government of the Dominican Republic..... 46
National Development Strategy...................................................................... 46
Ten-Year Plan for Higher Education 2008-2018 ............................................ 49
The Strategic Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation 2008-2018 ....... 56
Chapter 3: Access to Higher Education ......................................................... 61
Participation in higher education .................................................................... 61
Provision of higher education ......................................................................... 64
Admissions criteria and selection processes ................................................... 64
Preparedness for higher education .................................................................. 67
Student retention ............................................................................................. 69
Summary ........................................................................................................ 70
Chapter 4: Quality, Relevance and Effectiveness .......................................... 75
The Dominican labour market ........................................................................ 76
The informal economy ................................................................................... 76
Achieving more pro-poor growth: advice from the World Bank ................... 78
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– TABLE OF CONTENTS
Changes in educational attainment ................................................................. 81
Higher education graduates in the labour market ........................................... 84
Private returns to higher education ................................................................. 86
Completion of higher education ..................................................................... 89
Graduation ratios ............................................................................................ 90
Employer views of higher education .............................................................. 92
The quality of higher education ...................................................................... 93
The programme of five-yearly evaluation of higher education institutions ... 93
Planned initiatives to improve higher education quality ................................ 94
Summary ........................................................................................................ 95
Chapter 5: Future Demand for Higher Education ........................................ 99
The relative attractiveness of higher education ............................................ 100
Social norms and pressures........................................................................... 100
The scale and shape of labour market requirements and opportunities ........ 101
Demographically-driven demand for higher education ................................ 106
Higher education participation rate increases on top of population trends ... 107
Summary ...................................................................................................... 112
Chapter 6: The Structure of Higher Education Provision ......................... 117
The need for diversity of provision .............................................................. 117
Options for diversifying provision ............................................................... 119
Internationalisation strategy ......................................................................... 122
Summary ...................................................................................................... 125
Chapter 7: Sustainable Financing................................................................. 127
Resource mobilisation .................................................................................. 128
Resource allocation ...................................................................................... 131
Resource utilisation ...................................................................................... 132
Equity ........................................................................................................... 132
Summary ...................................................................................................... 136
Chapter 8: Scientific Research, Technology and Innovation .................... 139
Legal framework .......................................................................................... 139
The Strategic Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation ........................ 141
The current stage of science, technology and innovation in the Dominican
Republic ........................................................................................................ 144
Science production ....................................................................................... 144
Human resources .......................................................................................... 146
Applied research activities............................................................................ 148
Industrial innovation ..................................................................................... 149
Policy instruments ........................................................................................ 149
Human resources: support for study abroad ................................................. 151
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TABLE OF CONTENTS –
Assessment of requirements ......................................................................... 153
Summary ...................................................................................................... 155
Chapter 9: System Steering and Institutional Governance ........................ 159
Introduction .................................................................................................. 159
System level steering in the Dominican Republic ........................................ 159
Institutional level governance ....................................................................... 161
Governance of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) .... 162
Other institutional governance models ......................................................... 164
Role of the Ministry ...................................................................................... 166
Reform of the UASD .................................................................................... 167
Summary ...................................................................................................... 169
Chapter 10: Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................ 171
Recommendation 1 ....................................................................................... 172
Recommendation 2 ....................................................................................... 173
Recommendation 3 ....................................................................................... 173
Recommendation 4 ....................................................................................... 174
Recommendation 5 ....................................................................................... 174
Recommendation 6 ....................................................................................... 175
Recommendation 7 ....................................................................................... 175
Recommendation 8 ....................................................................................... 176
Recommendation 9 ....................................................................................... 176
Recommendation 10 ..................................................................................... 177
Recommendation 11 ..................................................................................... 177
Recommendation 12 ..................................................................................... 177
Recommendation 13 ..................................................................................... 178
Recommendation 14 ..................................................................................... 178
Recommendation 15 ..................................................................................... 178
REVIEWS OF NATIONAL POLICIES FOR EDUCATION: HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC © OECD 2012
