Educação

"Escola Livre não significa escola sem dinheiro", diz haitiano Professores

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Professores de escolas nacionais no Haiti denunciou programa de educação livre do governo para a eliminação de taxas de inscrição para o meio milhão de crianças, mas não compensando as instituições para a perda. Como resultado, os professores dizem que as escolas não podem funcionar adequadamente, mesmo sendo incapazes de comprar "pedaços de giz".

"We are for free school, but we mean to parents and government officials that education is expensive," said Edith Delouis Lourdes of the National Confederation of Haitian Educators (CNEH) during a press briefing Monday.

"Parents," she says, "do not have to pay, but education officials must provide the money in time, not a month later, nor by offering 15,000 gourdes regardless of the capacity of the school" she says.

The school with the lowest number requires 30 000 gourdes per month to operate, says the union, adding that so far the national schools have not received anything from the government.

"Departmental directors of the Education Ministry," says Delouis, "threaten school officials telling them that National Palace keeps their names as people demanding money to run the canteen."

"The National Palace should know that when the WFP (World Food Programme) and CNSP (National school canteen) give rice, peas, oil, to school principals, those one have to prepare the canteen with fees paid by their pupils. Usually, pupils pay 5 gourdes per day for this purpose," reveals the unionist.

Food is enclosed in the deposits of several national schools because they have not yet received the money, said Ms. Delouis indicating the delay by government officials to replace the fees they have canceled last October in Primary National Schools.

In addition, some schools cannot afford school supplies like pieces of chalk, they can't print the results of tests, nor can have a first aid kits.

These school fees have enabled schools to make some expenses such as repairing the furniture, get students in more or less acceptable terms, or even pay some teachers.

"We want to remind officials that the free education does not mean school without money," says the unionist.

In addition, National schools in Cite Soleil threaten to shut down for not receiving any government subsidy.

In September, President Michel Martelly announced that education fees at public schools of 100 to 200 HTG ($2.50 - $5.00 US) would be waived for all students, approximately a half-million children.

The president has levied a tax since last June on international telephone calls and money transfers to fund his program of free education in Haiti to the tune of $8.5 million per month.

Mas, em outubro, o senador Jocelerme Privert (Nippes / Inite), do Comitê do Senado sobre Finanças e Economia, encontrou pelo menos 26 milhões dólares [EUA] desaparecidas no banco da nação. Privert disse que "apenas US $ 2 milhões [do dinheiro] tinha sido depositied no BRH (Banco da República do Haiti) e nenhum tinha sido feita a retirada da conta."