Tuesday, Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet, Minister of National Education, opened a two-day workshop on the results of a UNICEF study on children outside the Haitian education system and a code of conduct addressed to the administrative and educational staff of the schools of the country.

According to the 2011-2015 study, more than 320,000 children between the ages of 6 and 14 are not in school, about 160,000 children aged 15 to 11 are not attending school. A total of almost 500,000 children aged 5-18 are completely excluded from the school system in Haiti and about one million children are at risk of leaving school without completing their studies.

For Minister Cadet, who welcomed UNICEF's contribution to the study and the Code of Conduct in schools, these studies are essential for a better understanding of the problems affecting the education system and the search for the necessary solutions for the renewal of the Haitian school "We can not talk or engage in genuine reforms without clear and relevant information on every level of the education system", stressing "The Ministry must continue to work to allow all children outside of the system to have their place in a classroom."

For Marc Vincent, UNICEF Resident Representative in Haiti, this workshop is one of the many initiatives of the Ministry that contribute "to stimulate reflection and to take concrete steps towards improving the learning environment and reinforcing the quality of education as a strategy for the retention of children in classrooms."

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre