On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, Prime Minister Garry Conille, accompanied by Antoine Augustin, the Minister of National Education, visited the Collège Canado-Haïtien, as part of the State examinations for the New Secondary IV.

On the sidelines of this visit, Minister Augustin announced that the Government had set the start of the school year for the new academic year for October 1st, 2024 around the theme "Restoring the authority of the school". The administrative and teacher return is, however, set for Monday, September 16, 2024.

Apart from the date of October 1st, Minister Augustin provided some details on the new school calendar (awaiting publication). This calendar includes 188 school days totaling 940 hours of classes for basic education and 1,128 hours of classes for secondary education and 11 days of leave.

In order to support parents and continue major projects, the Government, through the Ministry of National Education, intends to undertake a number of priority actions in the short and medium term:

• Support for parents of students in public, municipal and community schools. 280,000 parents in several departments are targeted to receive support of 15 to 20 thousand gourdes;

• Distribution of school textbooks for grades 1 to 4 of the 1st cycle of the Fundamental School;

• Distribution of school kits, uniforms and benches;

• Strengthening and increasing the number of school canteens in establishments;

• Teacher training for the four new subjects of the Basic School, namely: Aesthetic and Artistic Education (EEA), Physical and Sports Education (EPS), Education in Technology and Productive Activities (ETAP) and Education in Citizenship (EC);

• Validation and implementation of the Curriculum Orientation Framework 2024-2054;

• Reorganization of national schools and high schools as part of the Public Education Reform;

• Freeing up school spaces occupied by displaced persons;

• Strengthening the governance of Departmental Education Directorates within a framework of micro-planning and school mapping;

• Implementation of the National Early Childhood Policy;

• Increasing the school offer with the inauguration of 17 new public schools and the rehabilitation of 111 high schools and national schools;

• Regularization of the status of teaching and administrative staff;

• Establishment of the National Agency for Higher Education and Scientific Research (ANESRS).

HL/ HaitiLibre