During a videoconference meeting between the Ministry of National Education, members of the educational community, national and international actors, more than a hundred participants in person and online, discussed education in situation emergency, actions in progress or to be undertaken with a view to returning to school.

All are unanimous in expressing their will and determination for the overall resumption of school activities across the country.

Noting the negative impact of insecurity and threats on the pursuit of learning, the participants called on the State to take matters into its own hands in order to achieve a gradual normalization of the situation in order to facilitate the resumption of school.

For Nesmy Manigat, the Minister of National Education who chaired this meeting, there is a double urgency to address : the functioning of schools and the protection of the educational institution, underlining the recent vandalizations of more than thirty educational institutions.

Instructions have been passed, he said, to support schools that have suffered attacks and damage in recent weeks, particularly in Artibonite.

Actions are planned at all levels, through the National Education Fund (FNE) and other Public Treasury funds as well as technical and financial partners, for the establishment of school canteens, the supply of textbooks schools, school kits, benches and support funds for schooling and the school contribution.

Jean Ronald Joseph, the Director General of the FNE, also gave an update on school construction and rehabilitation actions, the distribution of benches to public schools and the provision of funds to vandalized schools. He announced that several new schools will be inaugurated in the coming days and that new school construction sites will soon be launched in the Great South.

Dikel Delvariste, the Director General of the National Institute of Vocational Training (INFP), took the opportunity to inform on the actions undertaken to relaunch the vocational schools indicating "Meetings are in progress and distribution of materials are planned in the plan of action of the INFP" while soliciting the support of other actors.

Bruno Maes Resident Representative of UNICEF in Haiti, who also participated in this meeting, pledged his support for ongoing initiatives. He discussed the design and implementation of a support program for the return to school, taking into account sanitation in schools, cholera management, school supplies, awareness on the right to education etc The cost of the program is estimated at 36 million US dollars, of which 6 million are already available.

See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-38219-icihaiti-education-the-number-of-schools-operating-increased-by-2115-in-48-hours.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-38201-icihaiti-education-percentage-of-schools-functioning-by-department.html

HL/ HaitiLibre