Overview:
Several teachers in different cities throughout Haiti have temporarily ended their prolonged strike after receiving assurances from the Haitian government that their requests will be addressed soon. However, some remain doubtful about the government’s ability to fulfill its promises and have pledged to continue the strike until those commitments are met.
CAP-HAÏTIEN — Public school teachers in several cities of Haiti, including Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves and Ouanaminthe, returned to work on Jan. 27 after the government pledged to meet some of their demands by February in an agreement signed on Jan. 20. However, teachers in other major cities like Jacmel and Jérémie remain on strike, citing skepticism over the government’s promises, multiple sources told The Haitian Times.
Teachers remain on a strike that has lasted three weeks now after the transitional government led by Prime Minister Didier Alix Fils-Aimé failed to meet their demands last week. As the prospect of a fourth week loomed, with students also protesting in the streets to call for action and disrupting some private schools’ operations, the Ministry of Education announced that it had agreed with teachers unions to address their requests and end the strike. Some returned to work on Monday while many vowed they would continue to strike until their demands were fully met.
Students watch movies in class amid teacher absences
Even though the strike officially ended in Cap-Haïtien, many public school teachers have not been reporting to class. Steve Jovany Pierre-Louis, a 10th-grade student at the Lycée Philippe Guerrier— a state-run high school— did not see any of his teachers on Jan. 28. Pierre-Louis spent the day joking with his friends, listening to music and watching The Matrix Resurrections on his phone. After their second recess, he and his classmates only spent about two hours working on Physics and Trigonometry problems.
“I got discouraged while watching too many movies,” Pierre-Louis, 19, said. “I told myself I came to school. I’m wearing my uniform, but I can’t work. We’re the ones suffering the consequences when teachers don’t show up. I’m the one who’s not going to know anything. I’m the one taking steps back.”
Pierre-Louis is the president of his class, named after Martinican poet and politician Aimé Césaire, and has been attending Lycée Philippe Guerrier since 7th grade.
Teachers’ demands are still overlooked despite the government’s pledge
The teachers began their strike on Jan. 6, demanding salary adjustments, timely payments, health insurance, debit cards with a sum of $190 pre loded for easier salary access, free hot meals for teachers and students and official employment for those working without formal contracts for years.
Despite the government’s assurance that debit cards would be issued and teachers formally hired next month, some union members are divided on whether to trust these commitments. Teachers who have returned to work view this as a truce, stating they will strike again if the promises are not fulfilled by February, as committed by the government.
Another demand from the teachers that stalled the negotiations is a pay raise. The government has reportedly not agreed to honor that request yet. Instead, it promised to evaluate its budget to determine if it could raise teachers’ salaries, sources told The Haitian Times.
The Directorate of the Unitary Central of Workers of the Public and Private Sectors of Haiti (CUTRASEPH), a group of unions advocating for the strike, said it is highly disappointed because what the government pledged is nowhere near everything the teachers demand.
“Contrary to what was expected, the situation on the ground did not really evolve after the signing of the provisional agreement concluded on Jan. 20, CUTRASEPH wrote in a Jan. 27 public letter. “An agreement which was not very well received by the majority of teachers on strike considering that it did not include the minimum required for the temporary lifting of the strike afterward, for the return to the classroom.”
The CUTRASEPH’s open letter continues by saying that teachers’ salaries have not been increased and that the government has not provided a debit card with $190, along with other unaddressed demands.
Teachers remain cautious while parents sigh in relief
A teacher in Port-au-Prince, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said that many educators are unwilling to end the strike completely without seeing tangible results.
“We’ve heard promises before, but what we need is action, not just words,” he said.
Many teachers declined to be interviewed or named, saying the situation has become politicized. They expressed concerns that the government’s promises may go unfulfilled again, leading to further strikes.
Officials from the Ministry of Education have yet to respond to The Haitian Times’ request to comment on the promises made to the teachers’ unions and the skepticism of many regarding the fulfillment of those promises.
For parents like Alius Aluter, who has a 14-year-old daughter at Sainte Philomène High School in Cap-Haïtien, the announcement of the agreement between the teachers and the government is a relief, as his daughter can now return to school.
“This is good because she was sitting down at home. She wasn’t productive,” Aluter said.
Teachers have gone on strike almost every year since the 2010s, primarily in pursuit of better pay. The strikes consistently conclude without the teachers’ demands being met; this year is no exception. Consequently, students miss weeks of school annually, only to discover it has been in vain. This year, most teachers vowed to remain on strike until the government fulfilled their requests, but they ended the strike after receiving promises, knowing that the government often fails to live up to its commitments.
Many believe that the government will fail to address the needs of teachers, potentially leading to other prolonged strikes. For many observers of Haiti’s education system, unless the government resolves the many issues teachers face permanently, this cycle of strikes will continue, and the sector will further deteriorate in the process.
Because of the constant strikes, many parents want to take their children out of public schools and put them in private schools instead. However, this is an expensive option that is daunting to them because they lack the financial means to do so. For instance, for a public high school student, regardless of grade, it costs 5,000 gourdes, or about $38 a year, nationally. Yet, the average cost in a private high school in Cap-Haïtien can be about 12,500 gourdes, or $95, for just one trimester. Still, that average varies from one city to another, one communal section to another around the country.
“I’m supposed to change her school, but it’s not possible,” Aluter said. “I’m a man who’s not even working to care for his family.”
Only time will tell if the government will answer the teachers’ demands in February as promised to end the teachers’ strike saga that Haiti has been experiencing in recent years. But for now, Haiti’s education system is in peril. Students like Pierre-Louis are urging the government to meet the teachers’ needs, fearing that he will lose this school year if nothing concrete is done.
“I’m mad at the State,” Pierre-Louis said. “The biggest problem is that the country’s State does not take the public schools seriously. Students from private schools minimize us a lot. The public school system has lost its value.”
