Friday, as part of the international campaign "Unite for Education", a global initiative, in which largely involve teachers unions, the Haitian President Michel Martelly, accompanied by Nesmy Manigat, the Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, participated in a day of gathering for education, at the national school of Petion-Ville on the theme "A quality education for a better world", an initiative of the Platform of teachers' unions.

The Head of State, in the presence of the Mayor of Petionville, Mrs. Ivanca Jolicoeur Brutus, of the Director of High School and hundreds of students, reiterated its commitment to continue to work to improve the Haitian education system, the most important work of his presidency. Furthermore, he urged all stakeholders to work together in order to achieve a quality school for the benefit of all the children of Haiti. "Fòk nou genyen yon lòt kalite lekòl, pou tout timoun peyi Dayiti ka pwogrese tout bon vre nan wout chanjman an."

President Martelly, provide advice to students, inviting them among others, to work hard in order to succeed at the end of the school year, but more importantly, the academic route to university.

Noting the progress made in the area since taking office, including access to free education and the struggle for quality education, the Head of State revealed that the budget allocated for education "increased from 10 to 17% of the national budget today, which represents 7% of GDP, which was only 2% in 2000."

President Martelly, said that more than one million seven hundred and fifty thousand students of the first two cycles of the Fundamental School enjoyed free education under his Administration. "Our net enrollment rate is 90%. We miss 10% to reach the benchmark of 100% set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

For her part, Lourdes Edith Joseph, the General Secretary of the National Confederation of Haitian Educators and Educators (CNEH), welcomed the Government's efforts in the field of education. She took the opportunity to make a plea for the enhancement of the teaching profession in the country and attract to the attention of the authorities, the lack of qualified teachers in the system. She called the University to fully play its role in finding solutions to the problems of the Haitian education system.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre