This week at the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) took place an important meeting between the officials of the Ministry and several publishers around the subsidy and the provision of textbooks for the next school year.

The meeting chaired by Denis Cadeau, the Director General of the Ministry, deconded by Ecclésiaste Télémaque,

Deputy Director General, to which participated among others : Maël Fouchard, of Éditions Deschamps ; Peter Frisch, CEO of the Maison Henry Deschamps ; Gérard Marie Tardieu, Éditions Kopivit l’action sociale ; Prophète Joseph, Éditions Konbit ; Guibert Auriol Joseph, Éditions Pédagogies nouvelles ; was mainly focused on the issue of subsidy and the provision of textbooks, whose a budget of 500 million gourdes is provided in the budget renewed [Parliament still not having the Finance Act 2013-2014, however a priority...]

Reviewing the process of procurement, distribution channels of textbooks, their actual availability, their use in the field and the problems related to textbooks edites on Creole, this meeting allowed to review a number of irritants that affect the provision of textbooks during the school year.

Falling within the preparation for the next academic year, this meeting allowed participants to agree on four resolutions :

• The establishment of a Joint Monitoring Committee composed of two representatives of publishers and of Ministry of Education to reflect on textbooks, the homologation and others ;

• The permanence to establish for working meetings between publishers and departmental directors of education ;

• The organization of a publicity campaign, with among others the dissemination of spots to educate parents about the use of Creole in 1st and 2nd fundamental year ;

• The establishment of a training system relating to textbooks to the intention of the school directors and teachers.

The first meeting of the Monitoring Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, April 22, 2014.

HL/ HaitiLibre