Education - Haiti Observer Blog

Education has remained a key obstacle for Haiti's economic and social development. A survey indicates that approximately 35% of the Haitian youth are unable to read and on average Haitian children spends less than four years in school. The present Martelly government is committed to offer free and universal education on a priority and has rolled out a plan get 1.5 million students in school with improved curriculum and trained teachers by 2016.

On February 7th, 2014, the Haitian President Michel Martelly told a special session of the OAS (Organization of American States) Permanent Council that his government has sanctioned 14% of the national budget to promote universal education. Universal education gives access and equal opportunity to all people to education regardless of their background, class, ethnicity or physical disabilities. According to the Haitian President, the government held view that education is the linchpin for every development process whether it is on protecting environment, judicial system or for economic development. His government is in the process of identifying prospective areas for promoting foreign investments.

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Phrases like, 'Education is the answer' and 'The children are the future' apparently mean little to the group or groups of people committing acts of vandalism against some of the nation's schools. Last year's instance took place on October 28, when tear gas bombs were flung at students in the midst of classes at the lycées Philippe Guerrier and Baptiste Dudy Boukman. Almost exactly three months later, another attack has taken place.

The school vandalized this time is Port-au-Prince's lycée Daniel Fignolé, the weapon of choice, feces. Students and staff at the school are understandably strongly upset. The students have been described as traumatized by the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP). The ministry condemned the act, calling it odious and stating that it shows the degradation of morality and social values.

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Haiti is a country of 10 million, give or take. Of that number, more than 90% speak Creole. The constitution of 1987 mentioned Creole as the single most binding language among the Haitian people. Why then is it still marginalized, and why is French, spoken by only 10% of the population, still the dominant language in the professional Haitian world, to the detriment of the majority of the population? It is these issues that Jacques Pierre, a Creole Studies professor at Duke University, is asking in an open forum for his recent piece in the Miami Herald called 'Haiti's French/Creole Divide'.

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Almost exactly three years ago, one year after their necessary role in Haitian society was made glaringly clear to those in need of and lacking aid after the 2010 earthquake, the focus on the country's small fleet of nurses grew and the newfound interest allowed for the creation of a brand new program for nursing in the country. The need arose after the quake took the lives of near to a hundred nurses in the country and also brought down the Port-au-Prince school for nursing.

In 2011, the new plan to revive the field came in the shape of a master's degree program, requiring three years of study, was made available to nursing school students from five of the public schools for nursing across the country. Included in the three years of study, students followed decades' held curriculum studying mainly for hospital service. This left a gap in the market for other fields such as patient education, pediatric care, public health program management, surgery and primary care.

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Haiti violence has reached the University of Limonade. On Monday, as a result of a demonstration by students of the University, Haiti National Police intervened and as a result, a shopkeeper was killed, several people were injured and many property destruction were recorded.

It was also reported that some of the University students were involved in the sequestration of the administrative and academic authorities of the University of King Henri Christophe campus in Lemonade.

Se pou kombyen tan Inivèsite sa aprale femin-la? Nou deja pa minm ginyin lekol an Ayiti.