Back to school should be held this year Monday, Sept. 5. The Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) indicates that the manuals and textbooks will be subsidized up to 70% this year, and that some books will be distributed free of charge. Despite this considerable assistance, many parents still wonder how they will pay other expenses related to schooling, especially since some have not yet finished paying the last months of schooling for their children...

In September, 146.000 new students who will go for the first time in their lives at school, and this free thanks to the National Fund for Education (FNE), which is powered from the levy on incoming phone calls and money transfers, so in large part thanks to the Diaspora.

Many parents had the hope to be able to send their children to school for free this year, through the FNE, they will have to wait because the plan of President Martelly extends over 5 years and only affects primary school children, especially since the President at this time axis his efforts on children who have never attended school. These parents feel that the school year 2011 will be significantly more difficult than that of 2010.

Mirlande Manigat, for her part has doubts on the program of free education of President Martelly "[...] The free school, means that the state has the means to sent only 100,000 children to school ! I say that the school population is of 5 million children and this is what the population believes, it believes that this year, their problems will be over, because the school is free... I do not see by what means, the Haitian state, with the production capacity of the Haitian society, the state revenues, the deficit in institutional terms, in terms of organization, in terms of planning... It is an ideal that is not possible in the next 5 years..." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3554-haiti-politic-mirlande-manigat-has-doubts-on-the-program-of-free-education.html

In July the National Confederation of Haitian Educators (CNEH), wondered about the the strategy to put in place to reach to a free education https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3331-haiti-education-a-free-school-yes-but-how.html

Jean Reynold Telfort, the Director of the basic education invites the school principals including those of public schools to respect the school calendar.

HL/ HaitiLibre