Yesterday at a press conference in the premises of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) in the presence of Minister Reginald Paul and his Task Force, an update was given on the number of children sent to school for free this year. Ellicel Paul coordinator of the Unit of Study and Planning (UEP), which pilots the education program for all children within the MENFP explains :

"...as the Minister has just said we are Paul but we are not of the same family I am a director who came as a technician until the position of Director, I spent all levels.

Very quickly we will enter in the various components of the program, I remind you that the program is composed of four main groups :

There is a group A who is composed of 142.000 children from 8 departments, and among the latter there are children going to school for the first time, there are some who were children out of school because of social and economic problems of the country, we have managed to put them to school.

The group B which aims primarily 120.000 children of the departments of the West and Artibonite and which are primarily in the first year of the fundamental.

The group C is composed of 490.000 children of fundamental in the public schools who benefit from the elimination of school fees [school contributions]. [Editor's note here there is no question of a tuition fees, but of a fees charged by the responsibles of public school to pay among other chalk, hygiene materials, and some food for meal preparation]

For the group D it was expected 20.000 children who come from disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Very quickly I must tell you now the data has increased, because the demand, in the way we had estimated it is higher, remember that for the first year of fundamental, it was on projections from the data of the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Information (IHSI) [...] a large part are overaged, children who have not had the chance to integrate the school at the age of admission for the first year of fundamental, the result is that the quantity of children we have for the first year of fundamental exceeds the 120.000 children, today we are around 133.000.

And for the children of disadvantaged neighborhoods, where we planned 20.000 today we are passed to 60.000. Basically the entire program provided 772.000 children, today we exceed already the 800,000..." indicating that the data are partial, that they will change because the Ministry continues to enter them in the system.

HL/ HaitiLibre