Haiti: School Year Underway and 300,000 Children Absent from School
Haitian School Boys, Oct 1, 2024 Photo: @mohcaribbean
October 7, 2024 Hour: 7:29 pm
According to a recent report, 919 schools remain closed nationwide, an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to 2023, exacerbating the education crisis.
The school year is a week-old today, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 300,000 children are absent from school due to escalating violence.
Related:
Haiti: Anti-Corruption Unit Investigates 3 Members of Transitional Presidential Council
UNICEF described the situation of children, especially those living in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, as dramatic.
Geeta Narayan, representative of the international organization here, stressed that there have been many years of violence and this scourge is seriously affecting education in the Antillean country.
According to a recent report, 919 schools remain closed nationwide, an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to 2023, exacerbating the education crisis.
A UNICEF survey, according to the online newspaper Vant Bef Info, showed that 50 percent of young people believe that insecurity is the main obstacle to returning to school.
For its part, the Zanmi Timoun Foundation called for the right to education to be respected at the start of the 2024-2025 school year in Haiti, where children suffering from forced displacement are deprived of an education.
The organization expressed deep concern about hundreds of children currently living in camps.
These children, uprooted by armed violence and generalized insecurity, are deprived of their fundamental right to education and an environment conducive to their development, the foundation said in a statement published in Le National newspaper.
Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented and severe humanitarian crisis, which is further aggravating the situation of displaced children, who suffer not only from the loss of their homes but also from the lack of access to education.
The start of the school year should be a time of hope and renewal, but they face an uncertain future, with no resources to integrate into the education system, the foundation lamented.
The creation of temporary schools and access to school supplies are necessary solutions to allow these children to return to school, suggested Zanmi Timoun.
‘Every child, wherever he or she is in Haiti, has the right to a quality, free and appropriate education, in accordance with the provisions of Article 32 of the Haitian Constitution,’ the communiqué emphasized.
The authorities must protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation, and provide them with a stable educational environment.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: The Independent-The Star
