The peril of frequent school closures in Haiti

A case analysis

An African proverb says, "It takes a whole village to educate a child." As a nation, we are all stakeholders in the values that education instills in our youth. Regardless of how we see politics, it is a fact that children's education is a basic tenet in any society. Although humans can learn alone from their surroundings, a formal education guarantees some level of critical thinking. It allows everyone to follow a societal order. An academic formation frames the learning and molds it into a universal format and understanding.

It is well known that in the 1960s, Haiti suffered a human capital loss that, in part, initiated its decline. Hundreds of well-educated individuals ended up in French-speaking Africa and Canada to escape the horrors of Duvalier's regime. Most of them would land teaching jobs in those faraway places. It became a missed opportunity for primary and secondary education in Haiti.

School closures in Haiti have been an ongoing issue for a long time. We see school closing due to natural disasters, summer and winter breaks, armed conflicts, national holidays, and street protests, and the cycle continues.

After the earthquake twelve years ago, the economy tanked; consequently, fewer families could afford school tuitions that were already out of reach. Schools were closed for more than five months. The building that housed the Department of Education was torn to pieces. The focus then was on getting the country back on its feet. Getting the children back to school was not even on the list of priorities.

If every crisis in the country causes schools to close for an extended period, it is easy to do the math on how much of the school curriculum is not taught adequately. The outcome is a whole generation behind in learning materials while other countries are moving full speed ahead. It must be noted that the time lost is never recovered. We have a generation that goes to university 2 or 3 years later than most countries. In the long run, we end up with schools packed with a mixture of children of different age groups in small classrooms. This abnormal lag is unacceptable.

When we were kids, many of us were delighted to stay home, play sports, and board games, chat with our friends, and flirt with the opposite sex in our neighborhood. We were oblivious to the danger of armed conflict impacting our capacity to be well-formed citizens. Herein lies the danger of underage schoolgirls procreating in an already poor and overpopulated environment and compounding Haiti's socioeconomic problems.

This analysis proposes basic and proven solutions for what we see as a danger to world heritage.

The problems we identify

How should leaders approach such a fragile situation? Is it fair to ask parents to send their children to schools in this chaotic and, at times, inhumane atmosphere? What are our alternatives? How do we protect the education system from future conflicts? Is it viable to open schools in the rural and suburban parts of the country and close those in urban areas until further notice or until the crisis subsides? Will other countries question the universal value of Haiti's diplomas for all academic levels?

Possible Solutions

Remote schooling

We have identified through our readings that there are three possible ways to do offsite schooling in conflict zones:

One, Students can learn using videotelephony tools. However, this solution requires each student to have essential equipment like a Chromebook, which requires electricity and reliable internet service. Haiti is not at that level yet and should strive to reach it. Two, Radio broadcasting, where the frequencies are selected based on the student class level. It has proven to work in parts of Africa and Syria. And last, neighborhood tents with video broadcasting equipment and onsite assistants. The latter is unique because it can mimic the classroom environment and use the above-cited technologies. While we do not wish to see hundreds of tents in Haiti, we can make an exception for most affected areas. We cannot continue to jeopardize the future of our children.

Regime Change

Everyone agrees that the current regime is unconstitutional and irresponsible. It makes sense to get rid of it for peace and stability. Nothing is worse than having a team of persona non grata at the helm of the country's affairs when people are dying, and children cannot learn.

The new minister Marie Lucie Joseph in her mandate to reorganize and strengthen the ministry structures never mentioned anything about reforms that would protect the school year from disruptions due to political activities. The new government should make shielding the school year a top priority. The new team should show responsibility. The outgoing Minister, Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet, did not do any better. We saw the same failure under the previous administration Ministry of National Education (Haiti) roles action since Martelly.

Haiti has one of the lowest spendings on public education. The government barely spends 2% of the gross domestic product. In a report on Haiti's education submitted to the United Nations, the human rights council found that "the low rate of expenditure is not so much a matter of resources but of priorities."

Chaos is the enemy of progress. The chain of events caused by fuel shortages cascades into less transportation and less of other resources, making schooling activities less likely. In the economic sense, it also causes a lower GDP.

This de facto and unconstitutional regime seems oblivious to that. As a nation, we pay the consequences when political crises cause children to stay home for fear of aggression when they should freely go about their learning activities.

Education leaders have entirely disregarded their engagement with the youth since the 1960s. We fall prey to conspiracy theories asking if this is part of a grand scheme to doom the country further. Is the secretary of education benefiting from the school closure? As absurd as it may sound, in Haiti, leaders will come up with the best strategies to siphon off state money into their pockets and those of their unscrupulous allies. However, they are utterly inept in finding sound solutions for what the population hired them to do.

The constitution is clear; education in Haiti is a right.

Enact new laws

It is disturbing to think that a small country like Haiti, with many highly paid lawmakers, has not passed any meaningful laws or amendments that can move the country forward in the last 30 years.

Lawmakers should reconsider laws around street protests to help protect children's lives and other vital structures in the country. It should delineate where and when they can happen. The protests should be allowed to occur only on the weekends or after school—no progress without peace. In Haiti, it is common for our most cherished institutions to be destroyed in the name of revolution and regime change, only to be replaced by a more cruel and inept regime. We have too many destructions impeding progress. Protests are in the way of the normal functioning of our society.

Instead of fostering societal depravity and decreasing the age of sexual consent to 15, legislators should focus on legislation that puts organized crime out of business in the penal code.
Members of Congress should combat violent public demonstrations that might impair the nation's elementary and secondary school systems.
Constant public demonstrations will only exacerbate the situation and bring the families additional suffering.

Provide mental health Support

One thing that many Haitian leaders tend to disregard is mental health. A country that lives in constant fear has much to receive from experts in psychology counseling. Is it proper to send kids to schools under terrorism threats? Parents are afraid for good reasons. Teachers will not set foot in any establishment where their lives and the lives of their students are at risk.

Even after life returns to normal the trauma can last a very long time, and the scars of those victimized can be detrimental in the long run. The disruption of educational activities and the financial difficulties are made worse by the traumatized families' lack of access to mental health services and restricted access to medical treatment. These young Haitians will undoubtedly have more significant cognitive difficulties pertinent to academic learning.

Financing the solutions

Currently, many children are roaming the streets of Haiti like wild creatures without a sense of urgency about their future. This sad state cannot and should not continue in the modern day. Haiti abounds schools that are privately owned. Parents struggle with the cost of books, transport, uniforms, and other supplies. There is still room to promote the diaspora's sponsorship of children's yearly tuitions as a supplementary approach to partially finance education in Haiti.

Constitutionally, the government can collect fees, taxes, or tariffs to support education. Starting under Martelly's regime, a mandatory remittance fee is collected to benefit 100% of education in Haiti. While this is an excellent idea, the monies controversially have never been used transparently for the said purpose.

Recommended Solution

The question of opening schools in the peaceful part of the country while closing those in troubled areas should be answered with a resounding "yes." While the government cannot shield the populace from widespread criminal activity, it may, by decree, postpone the reopening of schools in Port-au-Prince and its vicinity while moving forward with opening other public institutions elsewhere. It is unacceptable to ignore the issue and do nothing to address it.

While the solutions we proposed may not be as perfect and straightforward to implement, they enter the frame of some of the available steps that can be taken. The complete callousness and disregard for human decency are not only incompetent but also criminal and arrogant and show sloppiness. It is more reason for the regime to leave and be replaced as soon as possible.

We note that a gradual reopening of the schools in urban areas should accompany the free distribution of basic school materials such as notebooks, pens, and pencils.

Possible Outcome

One thing remains certain; a nation cannot move forward socially, politically, and economically without educated citizens. Uninterrupted education helps in providing a path to economic stability. When the citizens are educated, they can read what is needed to stay healthy, improving their health outcomes. An educated society is more democratic and can tolerate and understand the alternatives in governance. Primary education guarantees a lower crime rate, more widespread gender equality, a vibrant suburb, and urban areas. Both public and private institutions benefit from a continuous yearly curriculum.

With the climate crisis, the conditions in Haiti can only get worse. By not taking action, we are violating the constitutional rights of every Haitian child. Knowledge is, first and foremost, a fundamental principle of humanity and decency.

Our children are the future face of the country. We must shield our school system, or a whole generation will be compromised, and Haiti will regress even further.