Haiti's School Season Delayed by One Month

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001285 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR STATE PASS TO AID FOR LAC/CAR WHA/EPSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO MARR PREL PINR AMGT EAGR EAID ETRD, ECON, HA, SOCI SUBJECT: Haiti's School Season Delayed by One Month REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1240 Haiti's School Opening Delay -------------- ¶1. (U) The education of Haiti's children has become another victim of the recent catastrophic hurricane damage, lack of foresight by the government, and continuing inflation. The Ministry of Education has failed to make the financial and logistic preparations for the reopening of schools this fall. On September 6, two days before the September 8 opening date, the Government of Haiti's (GoH) new Minister of National Education and Professional Training (MENFP), Joel Deroslers Jean-Pierre, announced that the official school year would begin October 6 (Note: The initial school opening date of September 1 was pushed back because of Tropical Storm Fay. End Note.) Recent hurricane and tropical storm damage to schools and infrastructure generally, the fact that many schools are being used to shelter people displaced by recent flooding, lagging production and distribution of textbooks, and the inability of parents to pay rising tuition costs are behind the government to delay school opening. ¶2. (SBU) The GoH has the legal authority to delay school opening for public schools but not private schools. However, the GoH discourages private schools from starting at an earlier date (Note: A very small number of private schools have reopened, and most are ambivalent on whether to re-open sooner than public schools. End Note.) Approximately 80 percent of Haitian children attend private schools (either denominational or secular) that charge varying levels of tuition. Increased prices of fuel and food coupled with mass unemployment contribute to parent's inability to pay for school fees, uniforms, textbooks, and other school supplies. Government of Haiti's Next Steps -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Ministry of Education's priority is to get subsidized textbooks on the market and into the schools as soon as possible. In an August 25 meeting, President Rene Preval brought together international donors, textbook publishers and members of his own government to gauge the education sector's readiness to launch the new school year. Twelve publishing companies reported on the delivery status of their respective textbooks, with several reporting that they are still owed payments from the GoH. The government plans to subsidize 1.5 million textbooks by 70 percent; the GoH also plans to donate a smaller percentage of textbooks directly to schools. The GoH signed-off 500 million Haitian Gourdes (approximately 12.5 million USD) of its FY 2008 budget to subsidize and donate textbooks. Part of Prime Minister Michelle Pierre Louis's general policy declaration for her confirmation by the legislature was the promise that the GoH would also distribute two uniforms to every pupil attending public schools and 150,000 school kits to students in primary school. ¶4. (U) The GoH is examining how best to address the one loss of classroom days caused by the one-month delay in the school opening. One solution may be to shorten the time off that pupils are given for the many holidays Haiti celebrates, such as Carnaval, Easter and Christmas, that close schools from one to three weeks. According to a Save the Children study, Haiti has one of the lowest pupil days in school per year. International Donor Involvement -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The U.S. -- through USAID -- is Haiti's largest education donor, when one includes the recent surge in USAID's school feeding programs to its existing basic education and workforce development programs. USAID's highly anticipated feeding program (in conjunction with other implementing partners) will nourish over 400,000 students per day once school resumes. Other significant donors include Spain, European Union, World Bank and UNICEF. SANDERSON