Motivation

The Dominican Republic is in the penultimate place for reading of the 79 countries that participated in the tests of the PISA ranking. The already low score from 2015 dropped sharply. 96% of the students read below the level. So only 4% read at or above the expected reading level. The students' performance is on average five years behind of OECD students.

Students who do not achieve the basic level of proficiency in reading are not able to identify the main idea in a text, find information based on explicit criteria, or reflect on the purpose and form of texts when explicitly directed to do so. This is very worrisome as students who are not able to achieve the basic reading proficiency level will not be able to continue learning and face a high risk of dropping out of school.

Mao, like most Dominican towns and villages, does not have a library. The range of the local book and stationery shop is limited to a few coloring books, Spanish-language workbooks and "The Little Prince". It is therefore not surprising that the great majority of 15-year-old students do not achieve the minimum expected proficiency threshold for reading. How can you expect to achieve good results if there is no supply of books?