Teachers' Living Conditions in Haiti: A Major Handicap to Quality Teaching

The article analyzes the living and working conditions of teachers in the Mirebalais school district. It draws on a 2023 questionnaire sent to 80 teachers across the four cycles of schooling, of whom 60 replied, together with interviews and school-district results for the 2021-2022 school year.

Of the 60 teachers, 56 rent their home and 48 are in debt, and monthly salaries range from 18,000 to 36,000 gourdes. The authors put yearly expenses at 570,000 gourdes compared with a yearly salary of 360,000 gourdes for ten months. On working conditions, only 8 of 56 schools offer teachers a hot meal and 10 of 56 provide water, and chalk is the only teaching tool in all 56. The authors conclude that these conditions prevent quality teaching and call on the state to give teachers a legal status and social benefits, and to stop leaving education to nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.