Port-au-Prince, (EFE) – The schools and educational institutions in Haiti did not open their doors this Monday, October 3, the date on which the school year was scheduled to start, due to the sharp deterioration of the sociopolitical, economic, health and violence crisis in the country.
In the streets of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince the presence of students has not been noticed, activities are paralyzed and public transport circulates slowly along stretches of highway full of all kinds of garbage.
Hours before the official start of classes, several schools sent messages to parents and teachers announcing that they would not open their doors this Monday due to the situation.
“Faced with this crisis that paralyzes the country and the fuel shortage, the school will not be able to receive the children on October 3 as planned. The school is considering the possibility of planning a gradual, cautious and vigilant opening according to the possibilities”, reads a note from a school sent the day before.
GRADUAL AND DIFFICULT OPENING
In a statement issued late on Sunday night, the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (Menfp) acknowledged that in the first week of the 2022-2023 school calendar it will be difficult to resume school activities in various parts of the country.
For this reason, a gradual return to classes is expected, said the Menfp, which has received various calls from educational institutions and sectors of the population that demand a climate of security and a better framework that facilitates the movement of students, parents and teachers for back to school.
The matter was brought to the attention of the Governing Council on October 2, which undertook, once again, “to create an appropriate security framework and an adequate device to facilitate the movement of the population in general and of schoolchildren in particular », says a press release.
The institution requested that the “right to education of all children in all circumstances” be respected, as recognized by international conventions ratified by Haiti, and recalled that the school “must be safeguarded and preserved at all times,” according to the official document.
There was already a postponement of the return to classes, initially scheduled for Monday, September 5, but the educational authorities decided to reschedule it for this Monday, as reported on August 26.
With this new ruling for the start of the school year, it will not be possible to respect the number of statutory school days, as happens every year due to the challenges and crises that plague the country.
CHAOTIC SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION
In the past, the start of the new school year in Haiti was accompanied by a remarkable dynamic in public markets, where people went to buy academic material, uniforms and shoes, but this has not been the case in recent days, in that the whole world is complaining about the deterioration of the crisis that is shaking Haiti.
The socio-political situation remains tense in the most impoverished country on the American continent, where the economic and health crises are worsening in the context of a sharp deterioration in security conditions, with the multiplication of cases of kidnapping, armed attacks, robbery and rape at the hands of criminal gangs.
After four consecutive months of significant fuel shortages, also attributable to the actions of gangs, the price of public transport has doubled or even tripled, while the authorities lack the necessary capacity to stop the crisis.
The shortage of fuel, which can currently be found on the black market for about 5,000 gourdes (about $41.50) a gallon, is also causing the price of basic necessities to double or triple.
