School - Haiti Observer Blog

A note of caution to those seeking visa to emigrate in the United States. There is a major scam on the internet where a group of racketeers is claiming that it can provides people living in Haiti with U.S. VISA and Scholarships. On February 22, 2016, the US Embassy in Haiti put out a press release to inform the Haitian population about this Fraud attempt. The group has been using Sophia Martelly's name claiming that they can provide visas and scholarships to study in the United States. Specifically, the group is using the email address: ambassadeamericaine.haiti@yahoo.com / unmaria51@gmail.com with contact person named Samuel at +509-3990-6218. These are fake contact information and their claim to provide visas and scholarships to study in the United States is not true.

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On Tuesday, October 8, 2015 the Lycée Alexandre Pétion become functional once again. This old Haitian Institution that was built in 1818 by Alexandre petion was almost destroyed during the 2010 earthquake. This Thursday however marked a new chapter as a new and modern building was inaugurated. Please see the picture gallery below.

Many important Haitian personalities and authorities were present at the ceremony of inauguration in Bel-Air. Among those who went on stage to talk about the contribution of Lycée Alexandre Pétion to the Haitian society, were: President Michel Martelly, Prime Minister Evans paul, Director Nicolas Mathurin, Education Minister Nesmy Manigat, former President Boniface Alexandre, Ady Jean Gardy and Mr. Yves Germain.

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"Water is life", and "education is the key to the future", right? There is also cleanliness and its import to Christianity. When all three of these edicts are being railroaded in the Haitian school system, the prospects look dire for the nation's children trying to forge an education without drinking water or even the use of toilets in over 60% of the schools in the country.

About a month before the start of the Haitian school year, 2014, representatives of the Human Rights Watch visited schools along the Haitian Central Plateau, to evaluate the sanitation conditions and access to water at the various facilities. The results showed none of the visited schools were in compliance with the guidelines set out by the government for proper school hygiene. The Human Rights Watch calculated that nearly 60% of the schools have no access to toilets and that 3/4ths are without drinking water.

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In an effort to improve teacher's working conditions in the public sector of education and to strengthen the education system, the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) has developed new salary scale.

Based on qualification, the educational staff is grouped into three cactegries:

Salary scale:
Teachers with an educational level of the 3rd cycle of basic education will receive from 13,000 to 14.333 Gourdes.

Teachers graduated from "École Normale d'instituteur will have a starting salary of 20,000 gourdes and can go all the way to 29.282 gourdes.

Teachers with a bac +3 + (CAPED), the salary will be between 21,038 and 40,132 Gdes Gdes

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President Martelly and National Education and Vocational Training Minister Manigat joined with the teachers' union at the National School of Petion-Ville to support "A quality education for a better world" initiative on the occasion of "Unite for Education" campaign global initiative.

Martelly, speaking in front of Petion-Ville's Mayor Brutus, the Petion-Ville principle, and student body, repeated his government's vow to keep improving Haiti's education system. He considers it of paramount importance to his presidential legacy. He moreover encouraged all investment partners to cooperate so every child has access to a quality education. Addressing students, he recommended they study so they might pass their finals with high marks and ensure their acceptance to universities.

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The town of Petit-Goâve is soon to be subsumed under a new department, the Department of Palmes (DOP) that needs only the blessing of the Haitian senate. The lower chamber has already approved the draft law and forwarded it to the upper chamber. To signify to Petit-Goâve residents the importance of this new department, Mgr. Alphonse dedicated a mass on the feast day of Our Lady of the Assumption to the advancement of Petit-Goâve. With creation of DOP, the community will enjoy essential services the government will fund under the auspices of DOP.

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The Minister of Education in Haiti has decided to take control over the administration of several schools that have been performing poorly while demanding that the Directors leave for a period of time to receive appropriate training.

According to Minister Nesmy Manigat, the academic staff at these institutions will have to participate in a training session for a period of at least 9 weeks, while their institution are under the control of the Ministry.

Here is a list of the schools that have been taken over by the Minister of Education under State of Emergency:

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President of the Republic Michel Martelly visited the Ekam village in Caracol for the inauguration of the S & H School in the village. Along with him for the event was the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training Vanneur Pierre.

The school was built by the efforts of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Foundation SAE-A. The 200 students at the school are children of the employees at the Caracol Industrial Park plants. The park, which opened in October 2012, was seen by some as a boon to the village as it is hoped to provide 65,000 jobs in coming years. The park came under criticism though after the first year of operations only saw 1,388 jobs, and some of them were not filled by Haitians.

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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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The "lycées" are the state funded schools in Haiti. It was once the pride of every Haitian family who could send children to educate in these public schools. Vanneur Pierre, the Haitian Minister of National Education and Vocational Training has expressed his view and few corrective measures to bring back the glorious era that these "lycées" have left behind more than thirty years ago.

The minister after a series of joint revaluation survey with the directors of the schools has identified some of the main evils affecting proper functioning of these schools. He has said, the directors of the schools mostly lack good leadership and management quality as demanded. High absenteeism among the teachers is almost ignored. There is no good representative model school in the country anymore that we can be proud with. A management to be effective must place accountability along with responsibility. From now on, the directors and officials of the "public educational institutions of renewal" will further remain accountable to the Ministry of Education.

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