300,000 Haitian Students to benefit from EU Donation of €18M

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer 

#Haiti, December 15, 2023 – Haiti’s education sector is being heavily funded, a groundbreaking development for the republic following severe gang activity hampering the education system as well as years of climate related disasters affecting the infrastructure of educational institutions.

This comes following the recent signing of an agreement  of 18 million euros for the sector, priority areas being the North-East and the Great South, according to Nesmy Manigat, the Minister of Education.

The North-East and the Great South, according to reports, were chosen as target areas for very specific reasons. The North-East has a strong potential for economic growth and the Great South, a region frequently affected by natural cataclysms.

Considering that, signed in the name of the “Education for Living Together” Program, reports say, this development is expected to fortify governance and management of the education system, enhance access to inclusive education in areas affected by the earthquake and the quality provision of technical and professional training, consistent with the needs of the Haitian economy, which are also the main objectives of the “Education for Living Together” Program.

Tuesday December 12th, 2023, marked the day of the signing by Stefano Gatto, the ambassador of the European Union in Haiti and Michel Patrick Boisvert, the Minister of Finance, in the presence of Manigat.

Manigat highlighted the number of students this new agreement will help. He said, “This is indeed an economic and social development program which will affect more than 300,000 students.”

Additionally, a Haitian government entity points out that the program in line with the millions invested, will do more than just infrastructural work.

In fact, it speaks to educational and vocational training.

“Beyond the construction of school buildings in prioritized areas, the “Education for Living Together” Program plans to provide support to the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training with a view to strengthening the Information and Communication System education management  through, among other things, the creation of three major registers in terms of school administration, namely the National Register of Students facilitating the allocation of a School Identification Number unique  to each student; the National Register of Teachers and the National Register of Schools.”

This is good for Haiti as the country has suffered for far too long with a deteriorating social and economic situation, worsened by gang activity and natural disasters.