Education

Haitian Teachers want Corrections to President's Free Education Program

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) – Teachers of Haiti’s public schools are urging corrections in the free education program of President Michel Martelly noting problems of transparency, significant number of teachers not paid, schools unable to purchase teaching materials and having to cancel school lunches.

The free public institutions, that already were struggling financially, have seen the numbers of students enrolled increase but argue that waiving the yearly registration fee of $2.50-$5.00[US], has compounded their problems since the state has not provided compensation for the losses.

The Secretary-General of the National Confederation of Haitian Educators (CNEH), Edith Delouis Lourdes, said after the one month delay of the start of the school year, the government had not made plans for giving students free education:

Doubts that 903,000 Students are in School for Free

The Secretary-General of the CNEH said they have not been able to verify the claims that 903,000 students are attending school for free this year.

Diaspora Supported National Fund for Education?

When asked about the National Fund for Education, Mrs. Lourdes responded the same as other citizens and members of the government:

President Michel Martelly's National Fund for Education (FNE) was launched in May 2011 with the aims of collecting $8.5 million [US] per month by excising international phone calls at 5 cents per minute and attaching a fee to international money transfers at $1.50 per transfer.

Since the launch of the FNE, the estimated $60 million [US] expected to be in the government's account for education have not been found.

In a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee in December, the Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti said that $4.8 million [US] were all the dollars in the FNE and that no withdrawals had been made from the fund and that this only accounted for money collected through the $1.50[US] fee on transfers.

The National Palace Adviser on Education, Dimitri Nau, last week said he does not know how much money is in the FNE or where the money is but claims that a lack of a legal framework for the FNE prevents the Ministry of Education from using the funds. In the meantime, funds in the National Treasury from the Education for All program and loans from the National Bank of Credit are the ministry's plans for surviving through the deficit.

The government of Haiti has spent an unprecedented amount of money on a campaign of radio and television commercials, billboards and even in the speeches of the president claiming that nearly a million children are attending school for free.