Gunfire and Bandits Make School an Impossible Dream for Haitian Children

At the Lycée Marie Jeanne school in Port-au-Prince, a man with a baseball bat stood guard, trying to maintain order at a food distribution point for the nearly 5,000 displaced people who have taken refuge there. Haiti’s ongoing crisis has deeply affected its education system, with schools struggling to cope with a severe shortage of teachers and staff. Government officials report that around one-fourth of Haiti’s educators have either been killed or forced to leave the country due to escalating violence.

The consequences of these disruptions extend beyond just the loss of education. With many children unable to attend school, they become more vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups that are wreaking havoc across the country. Experts estimate that up to half of gang members in Haiti are minors.

The decline in school attendance is stark. In the province surrounding Port-au-Prince, 77,000 ninth graders sat for the statewide final exam at the end of the 2023-24 school year, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous year. The Education Ministry reports that approximately 130,000 students in the capital region dropped out of school last academic year. Despite this, officials have yet to fully assess the number of students who have left the education system this year.

Faida, a young girl living in the Lycée Marie Jeanne school, is one of many whose life has been turned upside down by the violence. Her father was killed in a gang attack, leaving her and her mother, Faroline Parice, displaced. The pair, like thousands of others, now call the school their home, sleeping outdoors in a courtyard plagued by mosquitoes and rainwater. Faida may not be attending school, but her story highlights the heartbreaking reality for many children across Haiti.

Source: The New York Times