Haiti to Offer Child Education Subsidies

Haitian President Michel Martelly announced yesterday that his administration plans to provide education subsidies for 772,000 children in an attempt to boost student enrollment. The announcement coincided with the opening of the school year in Haiti. Martelly’s National Fund for Education (FNE) will cover the tuition of 142,000 students who will attend school for the first time ever. 

The Clinton Foundation donated $1.25 million to cover the registration fees of some students. FNE, the initiative that Martelly launched shortly after he took office in May, is funded by per-minute fees assessed to incoming international calls as well as a flat tariff on international wire transfers. Gaston George Merisier, Martelly’s advisor on education, announced last week that $28 million had been raised thus far from these taxes, and that much of the additional monies had been sent by Haitian expatriates abroad.

Martelly repeatedly called for free education during the 2010-2011 presidential campaign. Education is a much-needed social service in Haiti, which is still ravaged by the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. Much of the donor money into Haiti thus far has been funneled into short-term delivery of education and health services in tent camps—and reconstruction of hospitals and schools over the long term.