Many Haitians have wondered in recent weeks whether the return to classes would take place on the scheduled date, with insecurity, inflation and fuel shortages complicating travel.
Haitian authorities have announced the one-month postponement of children’s return to classrooms, amid an economic crisis that is driving up prices, especially of school supplies, and fuel shortages.
“The Ministry of Education informs the public that the return to classes in the 2022-2023 academic year has now been set for Monday, October 3, 2022,” instead of September 5, according to a press release released yesterday Friday.
The text does not give any explanation for this postponement, however the ministry assured that it will publish a new timetable for the school year and that the number of days required to complete the educational process will be respected.
A spokesman for the ministry was not available when AFP tried to reach him for comment.
Many Haitians have wondered in recent weeks whether the return to classes would take place on the scheduled date, with insecurity, inflation and fuel shortages complicating travel.
In July 2022, inflation reached 29%, according to data from the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (Institut haïtien de statistique et d’informatique, IHSI). The prices of basic products do not stop rising, as do those of school supplies.
Although the education ministry’s decision was widely expected, the coordinator of the national union of students and teachers of Haiti, Kenson Delis, criticized the authorities for not announcing any measures to improve conditions ahead of children’s return to school in a month. and something.
“The government is limited to announcing the postponement of the return to classrooms without saying what it intends to do to alleviate the people’s misery, solve the problem of insecurity and make fuel available,” he said.
Haiti has been mired in both a political and security crisis for years, and after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, the situation worsened further. Gangs operate with near-total impunity and violence continues to escalate in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
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