The devastation of Haiti’s earthquake has left behind more than rubble and the stench of death, it has shaken a fragile nation to the core, depleting not only the few physical resources and straining an already fragile economy, but is has take many of the country’s future leaders.
The quake not only brought down homes and shops, but institutions of higher learning. In a country were only 2% is enrolled in secondary education and a limited few holds a higher degree, or is enrolled in Colleges or Universities , the loss of any number of institutions is a major blow to the future development and leadership of the country. While the physical destruction is clearly visible, the level of impact and damage on the countries aspiring leaders is muddled.
As University buildings crumbled down to the ground, they took with them some of the nation’s leading professors/educators and ambitious students, who shared a vision for a more prosperous life for both themselves, and the impoverished nation of Haiti. The extent of which the loss of future government leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, activist, etc. will impact the future stability of the country, may never be know, but it is undoubtedly extensive. Some of the countries best academics and activists including those who fought for womens rights, lost their lives in the quake, such as; Myriam Merlet, founder Enfofamn, which worked to raise awareness on women issues. Magalie Marcelin co-founder of Kay Fanm (Woman’s House), a domestic-violence organization, providing services and shelter to abused women. Anne Marie Coriolan, who founded Solidarité Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity With Haitian Women).
It leaves one to wonder if Universities across the globe could not take a more vested interest in the development of Haiti’s emerging leaders. It seems as if it is almost a duty, let alone a wise investment of Aid dollars to establish an exchange program to allow Haiti’s University students free and open access to institutions abroad for which they can complete their degrees despite the turmoil the country continues to live in daily.
The call to help preserve the education of those students currently enrolled in institutions of higher education was quickly sent. In the days after the earthquake, the director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Irina Bokova, called on universities outside Haiti to help shoulder the burden.
“Universities in the region and beyond should make every effort to take in Haitian students,” she said in a statement, calling the damage to Haiti’s education system “a catastrophic setback for a country already hit by other disasters.” (NY Times)
A number of Universities across the globe are actually stepping up and working to ensure the Haiti’s emerging leaders do not suffer needlessly. One such institution is Dartmouth College, who will be taking both undergraduate and postgraduate students;
“We’ll do everything we can so that their educational experience is not interrupted,” Dr. Jim Yong Kim, Dartmouth College President, told Steven Zind of Vermont Public Radio. “If there’s one thing Haiti does not need is to have its leaders have their educations thwarted in this process.” (Partners in Health)
While rebuilding the country will continue well into the future as clean up and removal of debris is far from complete, those buildings that are sill standing continue to slowly be examined for safety and the hope of quickly rebuilding those that remain nothing but pile of rubble covering books and fading dreams. Aid and Emergency relief efforts continue, however the rebuilding of lives and dreams of higher education are far from even started.
Prior to the earthquake Haiti was already labeled as having the ‘worst education system in the Americas’. With only about half the countries children enrolled in primary education, and only 2% enrolled in secondary or vocational education, which is at its best is seen as poor quality. Most of Haiti’s educational system is comprised of private institutions, and it is unsurprising that Haiti has one of the lowest levels of enrollment in higher education in the world, leaving the dream a rare reality to only a very few of the country’s aspiring youth. According to the 2008 report, Education in Haiti, The Way Forward, the National University of Haiti, had enrollment of some 28,000, and another 12,000 are enrolled in privately held institutions.
As with need to not only rebuild, but improve the primary and secondary educational system in Haiti, institutions of higher education too must see a large scale investment in the improvement and advancement of both access and resources for which to nurture and build the country’s future leaders;
“Tertiary education is now more important than ever to create a new professional class that will rebuild Haiti,” said Conor Bohan, founder of the Haitian Education & Leadership Program, a nonprofit corporation that provides merit-based university scholarships in Haiti. “Universities, long the neglected stepchild of international aid for education, need massive investment to prepare tens of thousands of Haitian students to become productive and prosperous members in the global economy.” (Chronicle of Education)
While the physical devastation is painfully obvious, the extreme impact that the quake has, and will continue to have, on higher education reaches into the depths of the country’s stability, both now and well into the future. It is clear that the international community has an essential role to play in that of safeguarding access for current students and both rebuilding and improving Haiti’s educational system at all levels.
