DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

While the government struggles with improving the quality of education, political patronage seems to continue to prevail.

In a striking paradox, a new report by investigative journalist Nuria Piera reveals a government-funded system continued to be filled by “ghost employees” and nepotism, while the illiteracy rate among young people is on the rise.

The Ministry of Education, which shoulders the largest payroll in the state, is again at the center of this scandal. With more than 120 billion pesos allocated for teacher salaries alone, the Ministry’s budget seems to being siphoned off by individuals who are not performing their duties. The evidence is clear: entire families are on the payroll without working, terminated employees continue to collect salaries, and “ghost” consultants receive lavish wages.

This system, which appears to have been historically designed to be a haven for political patronage and nepotism, has become a hotbed of so-called “botellas”—a term for...