Haiti’s private schools — which educate the vast majority of the country’s students, from elite institutions in Pétion-Ville to storefront operations in working-class neighborhoods — faced an existential financial crisis in 2020 as COVID forced them to close for months while their operating costs continued and their students’ families, already financially stressed, found it impossible to pay fees.
Small private schools in poor neighborhoods were particularly vulnerable. Operating on fees that were modest even by Haitian standards, these institutions had no financial reserves to survive extended periods without income. Many relied entirely on monthly fee payments to pay their staff and maintain their buildings. A month without fees meant teachers who could not be paid; several months meant possible permanent closure.
School directors described impossible choices: charging families who had lost their incomes for a service they were not currently receiving; or suspending fees and depleting any small reserves they had while facing their own financial obligations. Some schools offered extended payment plans or waived fees for the most economically affected families; others that could not sustain operations simply closed.
Education organizations called for emergency support for Haiti’s private school sector, arguing that the closure of small neighborhood schools in poor communities would be a development setback from which recovery would take years. These schools were imperfect institutions operating in difficult conditions, but they provided educational access for children who would have no alternative if they closed. Losing them would worsen an already severe educational inequality.