Dominican Republic boosts school completion but learning lags

The Dominican Republic has made significant strides in educational coverage and completion over the past decade, according to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) 2026 report. The country's primary school completion rate rose from 90% in 2015 to 96% in 2024, while participation in pre-primary education increased from 86% to 93% Source: El Día. The most notable gain was in upper secondary (bachillerato) completion, which jumped from 56% to 64% Source: Diario Libre. These advances place the Dominican Republic ahead of several regional peers, including Costa Rica (57%), Venezuela (44%), and Uruguay (42%) in upper secondary completion Source: Diario Libre.

Learning stagnation

Despite these gains, learning outcomes remain critically low. Only 2% of students achieve minimum proficiency in mathematics at the end of primary school, a figure unchanged since 2015, which the GEM report calls a "critical structural stagnation" Source: Diario Libre. Reading proficiency improved from 8% to 16% but still leaves 84% of students below minimum levels Source: Diario Libre. The report identifies academic quality as "the most critical national challenge" for meeting Sustainable Development Goal 4 by 2030 Source: Diario Libre.

Regional contrast

This pattern of expanding access without commensurate learning gains is not unique to the Dominican Republic. In Argentina, only half of students finish primary school on time, and learning outcomes have stagnated or declined, with the country dropping from second to tenth place in regional reading assessments Source: Infobae. Both countries face the challenge of translating increased enrollment into better learning, particularly in foundational skills like reading and mathematics Source: El Día, Infobae.