Schools in Haiti slow to reopen

A CALL by Haiti's government for schools to reopen in areas spared by the earthquake has gone largely unheeded because of parents' fears and financial woes.

"I want to send them to school, but how could I pay?" said Sauver Jean-Baptiste, a cobbler by trade who used to keep five children in private education at an annual cost of just over US$800 ($1,137).

"My clients are now either dead, have left the capital for their home villages or have lost all their belongings, including their shoes. Shoes are the last thing on anyone's mind," Jean-Baptiste told IRIN.

Some senators were opposed to the call to reopen some schools, on the grounds it was disrespectful to students and teachers still buried in collapsed buildings.

But Education Minister Joel D Jean-Pierre told IRIN: "Life continues and schools can be places of healing."

Healing for people like Jean-Baptiste's 15-year-old son, Jude, who lost two friends in the earthquake.

"When my father told me they had died, I ran to their homes to see if it was true," he told IRIN. "Their parents were crying ... I am sad but cannot find anyone to console me."

In an effort to fill this gap UN Children's Fund (Unicef) is working with the Education Ministry to provide psychological, mental health and social services in schools.

There are an estimated 10,000 schools in affected areas and 6,000 in unaffected areas, based on estimates from the government, which is analysing a survey of the destruction. Up to 4,600 schools have been destroyed or made unsafe, according to preliminary findings.

Director of primary education Rénauld Telfore told IRIN the government now must work out how to help subsidise students in private institutions, which account for 85 per cent of Haiti's schools.

Unicef estimates that half of school-aged children were enrolled in private schools before the earthquake. Shoemaker Jean-Baptiste told IRIN he had to pay for private education for his children because there were not enough slots in public schools. "To get a spot, we would have to pay off somebody who worked at a public school, which can cost more than our private school tuition."

University student Reginald Barbier, 22, told IRIN he had paid a public school employee 2,500 gourdes [US$63] to help get him into secondary school.

"We already had problems before the earthquake with teacher quality," education director Telfore told IRIN. "We need to fix the system to set standards, recruit good teachers and pay them so that not just anybody can teach." He told IRIN primary school teachers earned on average US$150 to US$200 per month and secondary teachers some US$500.

Telfore said there were approximately 20,000 public school teachers nationwide, of which 7,000 in Port-au-Prince — "many of whom may be dead".

Unicef has ordered tents to create temporary schools and is evaluating which sites housing displaced families have enough water to support the schools. IRIN