By Wongani Chipeta
Haiti schools have finally reopened. As this development is good news to most people in any country that had the schools closed, most Haitian parents receive this as a double dealing. As schools reopen many parents can no longer afford the payment of fees.
While the pandemic has disrupted education worldwide, www.avantmalawi.com has confirmed that situation is especially acute in Haiti, where just an estimated two-thirds of adults can read and write.
The ideal schooling has been impossible for most people in the Caribbean country where more than half the population lives on less than $3 per day and has little internet and television access.
One student, Nickerla Etienne, 16, had this to say with tears flowing down the chicks:
“The deadline to pay is next Monday. Without paying, I won’t be able to attend the class.” The student said this after being sent home from her private school in the capital, Port-au-Prince, for failing to pay up.
Schools in Haiti closed this year first due to months of violent unrest in the country, then later due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.