At the corner of rue du Center and rue Joseph Janvier, between a mortuary company and people occupying the sidewalk, here we are at the national school Direlan Dumerlin, a school built in 1958. The state of disrepair of this national school which has trained high dignitaries of the country is indescribable as the insalubrity weighs on it. Like almost all other national schools, it is abandoned; its leaders face a problem of furniture, money, sanitation…
Posted on 2016-12-06 lenouvelliste.comthe newcomer . com
“The teachers of the first, second and third cycles must observe a work stoppage on October 3 to ask the State to meet our demands. This notice is affixed to the entrance gate of the Direlan Durmerlin National School. Mrs. Frannecise Simone Lapointe, director of the institution happy to receive Le Nouvelliste, will not speak this time of the demands of the teachers. She says she is happy because at last she has found a way to expose the ordeal of her students who have to live with unsanitary conditions, who have no toilets or taps and who have to skate in the mud at the slightest drops of rain. The Direlan Dumerlin National School does not present the image of an ideal learning environment for the pupils and staff who work there. The walls are faded. They haven’t been repainted for a year. A glaring lack of furniture is visible at this school which trained several high dignitaries of the country, such as former Prime Minister Évans Paul, the former Commander-in-Chief of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) Mario Andrésol and the candidate given winner of the presidential election of 2016 Jovenel Moïse, according to the words of some elders of the institution. However, the infrastructure of the establishment is there. “The conditions in which our children receive the bread of education in this school do not obey any standard,” fumes the director, her voice broken. With each step, she finds an anomaly. Moldy walls, dilapidated benches, a classroom in urgent need of rehabilitation. The images are stunning, shocking even, but revealing of the way the education authorities manage public schools. Due to a lack of operating resources, the schoolyard is not sanitized. Garbage is burned in the playground. This means that the residues remain on site with the non-combustible waste. Ms. Lapointe explains. “From a sanitary point of view, we are out of breath,” she adds, indicating that there are no toilets that meet hygienic standards available at the school. A member of the censorship, without jargon, imputes the responsibility to the authorities of the Ministry of Education who have not granted, until this date, two months after the opening of classes, any fees to national schools. It does not receive any fees from students because the ministry decided this year to eliminate school contribution fees at the 1st and 2nd cycles of fundamental education in public schools. On a faded wall of the school can read: “Our children in our better days. Never forget the needy children who must be helped”, a quote from the donor of the book, Direlan Dumerlin. In 2016, this message no longer applies as children are left behind. “For three years, we have not had a canteen. The World Food Program (WFP), which supplied us with food, has ceased its collaboration. And despite our many approaches to the management of the National School Canteen Program (PNCS), we found nothing. bitterly deplores Mrs. Lapointe affirming that their children are mostly sons and daughters of the underprivileged class. Sometimes they come to school hungry. And when they cannot attend class due to hunger, the management is forced to send them home. To make matters worse, “chen janbe” merchants, mechanics who carry out their activities in the vicinity of the school. People have set up a garage behind the barrier facing rue du Centre, it is blocking the exit. The noise that resounds in the rooms, the ashes and the smell of body paint sprays that suffocate the students prevent them from following the lessons. “We went to the town hall, we discussed with officials but that got us nowhere,” explains the director, looking worried. For her students, she asks the authorities to act. “We need benches, chairs, toilets, sanitation. We can’t continue to function on clay because at the slightest drop of rain, the mud weighs down the activities,” she says. In order to concrete the schoolyard, Frannecise Simone Lapointe calls on everyone, the former students of the school to make their contribution. Because, she says, the situation cannot stay like this. former students of the school to contribute. Because, she says, the situation cannot stay like this. former students of the school to contribute. Because, she says, the situation cannot stay like this.