The area around Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, where the earthquake struck, was home to almost 50 percent of the nation's school and university population of 1.8 million. The earthquake destroyed or damaged 4,268 schools, including 2,800 primary schools and 1,233 secondary schools.
The trembler left more than 200,000 dead.
The Haitian government's Post-Disaster Assessment Report (PDNA) estimated that the earthquake resulted in damages totaling $7.8 billion. The report said it will cost $600.1 million to rebuild Haiti's educational system, including $329.9 million for reconstructing schools that were reduced to rubble, $189 million to rebuild schools that were not completely destroyed and $81 million to purchase needed educational materials and supplies.
Although Haiti’s plans are to eventually provide financial support to private schools, and build earthquake-proof public schools, countries such as the Dominican Republic, and states such as Florida, have taken immediate action. The neighboring Dominican Republic has donated 20 buses that have been converted into classrooms. The bus project was coordinated by that nation's first lady, Dr. Margarita Cedeño de Fernández.
“A Haitian painter and sculptor named Philippe Dodard helped coordinate the transfer of the 20 buses from the Dominican Republic to Haiti,” says Bill Brubaker, a journalist who visited Port-au-Prince in March for Smithsonian magazine. “Dodard showed me a few of the buses and said they would be moved to the neighborhoods most affected by the earthquake.”
Most of Haiti's schools and universities collapsed, according to the PDNA report released in late March by the Haitian government. The report was created with technical assistance from various international organizations, including the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the European Commission. "The interruption to schooling has meant continue loss of income to teachers, school staff, and small businesses that provide services to schools and universities," the report said.
Students from Miami Dade County Public Schools have also sent 10 surplus school buses to Haiti. The South Florida school district has modified the buses by removing the original seats and adding cafeteria-style chairs, as well as adding teacher essentials such as blackboards and desks at the front of the buses. Before shipping the buses to Haiti, Miami school officials donated classroom essentials such as books, pencils and pens. These officials also are soliciting buses from other school districts.
Education is one of many challenges, including homelessness and health care, that Haiti faces. But Haitians officials said education is vital to the nation's future. As the late American philosopher and psychologist John Dewey said, "Education is not preparation for life. Education is life itself."
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