Haiti/Education: Preschool Under Scrutiny Based on Surveys

The Ministry of Education presented, on December 1st in Pétion-Ville, the results of a national survey conducted in over 300 preschool centers. This work offers a new perspective on this essential cycle and will serve as a guide for future educational directions. The first structured data on preschool The Haitian education system finally has reliable initial benchmarks on the state of preschool education. Through two days of workshops organized in Pétion-Ville, the Ministry of National Education shared the conclusions of a survey conducted this year in centers welcoming children aged three to five. Present at this workshop were the Minister of Education, Antoine Augustin; the Director of Preschool, Dedy Millien Joseph; UNICEF representative in Haiti, Geeta Narayan; the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in Haiti, Marco Antonio Penin Toledano, and many others. This study, conducted between May and June 2025, was carried out on a vast sample of educational structures across the country, totaling 400 centers. It covers essential aspects such as the quality of premises, the availability of educational materials, staff training, but also often-neglected elements such as nutrition, hygiene, and safety conditions. According to preschool officials, this data constitutes an indispensable tool for understanding on-the-ground realities. It allows for identifying the system's strengths, where shortcomings persist, and what the priorities are for better supporting young children. During the workshops, technical and financial partners welcomed this initiative. They see it as an important step towards establishing a genuine national policy for early childhood, a sector still too unstructured despite growing parental interest. The study should now serve as a basis for concrete actions: harmonization of the preschool cycle, support for the most vulnerable centers, strengthening the training of educators, and general improvement of services offered to children. For the Ministry, the stakes are clear: invest early to give the youngest children the best chances of succeeding in their academic journey. With this survey, the State finally has a more precise vision to guide its decisions and lay the groundwork for lasting reform. The editorial team