By Shanieka Smith

Staff Writer

#Haiti, July 6, 2022 – At least 54,000 children in Haiti have dropped out of school, and it is very likely that they did not want to; between the lure and the danger, education have stopped due to the prevalence of gangs.  According to the United Nations (UN), the education of children is being gravely impacted by the armed gangs; among other things, the students are at risk of being attacked.  The UN says this has been the case since April, when the gangs crisis began.

From 238,000 in classes to 184,000.  UN said violence, school closures and idleness “lead inexorably to the enrollment of children into armed groups.

The UN reported that since the gang wars intensified in April, half a million children lost access to education in Port-au-Prince; at least 1,700 schools are closed.

A 15-year-old boy shared that after his school was closed because of gang-related violence in his neighbourhood, he was roaming around the streets and was asked to join by gang members to join a gang.

“I joined the gang in February 2021. They saw me walking and called me and asked me to work for them,” the UN quoted him. He added that they were other children like himself who had had the same encounter and are now gang members.

The UN said that children had been offered a lot of money, and gang leaders also threatened to kill them if they did not comply.

The same boy added, “every day, as soon as they send me to watch the police, they will pay me 1,500 or 2,500 Haitian gourdes (US$15-25)…They told me they’ll kill me if I don’t want to stay with them.”

An education ministry assessment between April and May 2022 revealed that 31 per cent of the 859 schools in Port-au-Prince had been attacked, and over 50 schools have closed.

The report said that several schools have been occupied by gangs or are serving as temporary accommodations for families displaced by violence.