Haiti

CRC Concluding observations
CRC/C/HTI/CO/2-3
paras. 58-59
29 January 2016

Education, including vocational training and guidance

58. The Committee welcomes the measures adopted in the context of the policy of mass education. It is, however, concerned that efforts remain largely insufficient and that only a limited number of the targets of the Operational Plan have been achieved. While welcoming efforts made, the Committee is also deeply concerned that a significant number of children still do not have access to education, in particular children in street situations, children with disabilities, children in conflict with the law, children in remote areas, children engaged in labour, internally displaced children and children who have been expelled from the Dominican Republic. It also notes with concern that:

(a) The later children enter schooling, the shorter they benefit from the Programme for Free Compulsory Universal Education (PSUGO), which aims at providing education for children between 6 and twelve years of age;
(b) Disparities remain in access to education between girls and boys and in particular between rural and urban areas;
(c) Pregnant girls, young mothers and rape victims are frequently forced or pressurized to drop out of school;
d) Educational infrastructure is poor, schools are poorly equipped, particularly in rural and remote areas, few teachers are adequately qualified, and salaries are not regularly paid, leading to frequent cancellation of classes;
(f) The education sector is dominated by private schools, which are often not officially authorized and monitored by the authorities and charge high fees exacerbating existing structural discrimination in the access to education, particularly affecting children in poverty;
(g) “Ghost schools” have mismanaged funds received in the context of PSUGO;
(h) The Office National pour le Partenariat en Education (ONAPE), supposed to improve the public-private partnership is not operative.

59. The Committee reminds the State party its primary responsibility for guaranteeing and regulating education and urges the State party to provide for free access to primary education and to take all necessary measures to guarantee access to education for children in vulnerable situations. It also recommends that the State party:

(…)

(c) Increase the budget allocated to education, rehabilitate the infrastructure of the educational system, including by building additional schools, ensuring that schools are adequately equipped;
(d) Ensure that teachers are adequately qualified, expand and improve both pre-service and in-service teacher training, and provide adequate salaries for teachers paid in a timely manner;
(e) Establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for and regularly monitor private education providers, to ensure that they comply with quality standards, regularly report on their financial operations to relevant authorities, including on school fees and salaries, and that they do not engage in for-profit education;
(f) Ensure that public-private partnerships do not impede access to quality education for all children and guarantee that they do not serve private interests or entail any form of commercialization of education.