Dominican Republic reaches 93% early childhood education coverage, UNESCO reports
Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Republic reached 93% education coverage among children one year before the official primary school entry age in 2024, up from 86% in 2015, according to data compiled by UNESCO in its Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2026.
The seven-percentage-point increase highlights a major expansion of access to education during the early childhood years. The report also points to significant progress in the country’s upper secondary school completion rate, placing the Dominican Republic ahead of several regional peers.
One of the most notable findings is the country’s progress in eliminating socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education. Between 2000 and 2024, the Dominican Republic became one of the few countries in the region to completely close the participation gap between children from the poorest and wealthiest households during the year before primary school.
With 93% early childhood education coverage, the Dominican Republic matches Brazil and is close to Argentina, which stands at 94%. It also ranks above El Salvador (85%), Guatemala (84%), Panama (77%), Paraguay (75%) and Honduras (59%).
UNESCO’s GEM 2026 report describes the 2015–2024 period as a decade of significant transformation for the Dominican education system, particularly in school access, completion rates and educational equity.
Education quality remains a key challenge
Despite the progress, the report identifies reading and mathematics achievement in primary education as areas requiring greater attention.
Improving learning outcomes will be essential for the Dominican Republic to advance toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which calls for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all by 2030.
The government has identified early childhood education and improved learning outcomes as priorities, emphasizing continued investment in the education system to ensure that children have stronger educational opportunities from the beginning of their academic journey.
