STARTING HISTORICAL CONTEXT

​

On January 1, 1804, Haiti (or Hayti, Hayiti, Ayiti) proclaimed its independence wrested from France after a bloody and heroic war during which an army of African slaves triumphed over the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most powerful at the time. On October 17, 1806, the founding father of the new nation, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who had meanwhile become Emperor Jacques 1st, was assassinated. There was then a period of fratricidal struggles for Power between the mulatto Alexandre Pétion (son of a French colonist and an African slave) controlling the West and the South of the country, and Henry Christophe in the northern part. Result : for thirteen years, from 1807 to 1820, the country was divided in two: Alexandre Pétion became Head of State of the southern part and Henri Christophe, that of the northern part where he proclaimed himself King in 1811 under the name of Henry I. The history of Haitian higher education begins in the aforementioned region.
​

​

THE GENESIS 

​

According to several renowned historians including Edner Brutus and Henoch Trouillot, the history of Haitian higher education begins in the "Kingdom of the North" or "Kingdom of Hayti" in 1815 where General Henri Christophe, who became King Henri 1st, former school inspector, founded the "Royal Academy", inspired by the English educational system of the time. This embryonic university establishment included a school of medicine, surgery and pharmacy, a school of arts and crafts and a school of agriculture. Indeed, the King called upon English missionaries to help him build his educational system. It was with this in mind that he approached the "British and Foreign School Society" in London. By the way, born a slave on October 6, 1767 on the Caribbean island of Grenada, then a British colony, Henri Christophe favored the Anglo-Saxon model. The King thus invested himself in developing diplomatic and commercial relations with England and the United States of America (then a young nation less than 50 years old).

 

Unfortunately, the momentum born of the creation of the Royal Academy was stopped dead by the disappearance of the Kingdom of the North and the reunification of the country in 1820 by the successor of Alexandre Pétion in the West, Jean-Pierre Boyer, known for his obscurantism. Thus, during the 19th century, in the absence of a higher education and training structure, it was in Europe, particularly in France, that the political, economic and cultural elites of the young nation, quarantined and considered like a black sheep by the colonizing and slave powers of the time. The latter considered the young Haitian nation as a bad example for other colonies and peoples who were still languishing under the yoke of slavery.

 

​

FIRST JUMPS

​

It was not until the second half of the 19th century that the first Haitian institution of higher education with a national vocation was created: in April 1860, the "School of Law of Port-au-Prince" was born, on the initiative of the Minister of National Education at the time, Elie Dubois. This entity later became the "Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences (FDSE)" of the State University of Haiti (UEH) and considered the oldest of Haitian faculties.

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, precisely in 1902, was born the "School of Applied Sciences", a private institution which will be affiliated, in 1945, to the "Faculty of Sciences" (of the "University of Haiti") created previous year. In 1947 the "School of Applied Sciences" changed its name to become the "Polytechnic School of Haiti", and in 1961, it was incorporated and definitively merged with the "Faculty of Sciences", an entity of the "University of 'State of Haiti (UEH)'. To replace the "University of Haiti", the "State University of Haiti (UEH)" was created by presidential decree on December 16, 1960, by the Head of State at the time, François Duvalier, a doctor trained at the "School of Medicine" of Port-au-Prince created under the American occupation of Haiti (1915-1934). We discuss this last period in the next section.

 

​

FIRST STRUCTURING PERIOD 

​

From 1915 to 1934, the United States of America occupied the Republic of Haiti, after having seized the gold reserves of this country then stored at the Central Bank, in Port-au-Prince. During this shameful period when the sovereignty of the country was put on hold, Haitian higher education paradoxically experienced a wave of major structuring which was manifested in particular by the adoption of a law on the "University of Haiti" (ancestor of the "State University of Haiti"), August 4, 1920. This legal tool will establish a modern nomenclature and an institutional framework necessary for the construction of a national system of higher education. Until then, the term "University" had kept in Haiti its first meaning drawn from the old French system of the Middle Ages and until the advent of Napoleon Bonaparte, that is to say including both the primary, secondary and post-secondary (higher) education cycles. The law of August 4, 1920 gave the term "University" in Haiti its modern meaning: an "institution of higher education creating and disseminating knowledge through research and high-level teaching and delivering academic and professional qualifications". The period of American occupation will also promote the creation of new establishments which, later, will be transferred into entities of the "State University of Haiti". These include the “School of Medicine” which later became the “Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy (FMP)”, and the “Central School of Agriculture”, future “Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine”. (FAMV)”. After the American occupation, precisely from the 1940s, new public higher education institutions were born, including in particular :

• The Institute of Ethnology, founded in 1941 with Doctor Jean Price-Mars as its first director, which in 1958 became the Faculty of Ethnology;

• The École Normale Supérieure was created in 1947 to train secondary school teachers ;

• The “National Institute of Administration, Management and Higher International Studies (INAGHEI)”, previously “Institute of Higher International Studies”, founded in 1973;

• The "National School of Social Work", later became the "Faculty of Human Sciences (FASCH)", 1974

• The "Institute of African Studies and Research of Haiti (IERAH)", created in 1980, and became the "Higher Institute of Studies and Research in Social Sciences (ISERSS)".

​​​

​

SECOND STRUCTURING PERIOD  ​

​

As indicated above, François Duvalier, who ruled the country from 1957 until his death in 1971, created, by presidential decree, the "State University of Haiti (UEH)" on December 16, 1960. It was not only a public teaching and research institution, but also a regulator for all private and public higher education institutions in the country. In this sense, the UEH was also responsible for issuing operating authorizations to private institutions. By creating this new “State” structure, Duvalier wanted to domesticate the Haitian university from which started the first student protest movements against his reign. We all remember the student strike of 1960. Until the death in power of François Duvalier, in 1971, the State University of Haiti remained under the influence of political power for the purpose of control of the opinion and prevention of subversion. In 1971, on the death of his father, Jean-Claude Duvalier, 19, inherited the power he exercised until 1986, when he fell. Although the 1983 Constitution recognizes the State University of Haiti as an “independent” institution, the contours of this enlargement in relation to the Executive power remained unclear. When Duvalier Jr fell in 1986, a new Constitution was drafted and passed the following year. This new text, through its article 208 (title VI, chapter V) made of the State University of Haiti an autonomous public institution.

​

​

REGIONALIZATION ​

​

Between 1999 and 2006, with a view to decentralizing and extending higher education to the entire national territory, beyond the capital Port-au-Prince, the Haitian Government experimented in the South Department of the country, a type of establishment known then under the name of "Technological Higher Education Center (CEST)", and located in the city of Les Cayes. On the basis of this pilot project were created, from 2006, the "Regional Public Universities (RPU)", the first 3 of which were :

• South Public University in Les Cayes (UPSAC), 2006

• Artibonite Public University in Gonaïves (UPAG), 2007

• North Public University in Cap-Haitien (UPNCH), 2007

 

Between 2007 and 2016, the following RPUs were created :

• South-East Public University in Jacmel (UPSEJ), 2011

• North West Public University in Port-de-Paix (UPNOPP), 2012

• Center Public University (UPC), 2012

• Northeast Public University in Fort-Liberté (UPNEH), 2014

• Nippes Public University (UPNIP), 2014

• Grand'Anse Public University (UPGA), 2014

• Down-Artibonite Public University in St-Marc (UPBAS), 2016

 

Serving a student population estimated at around 8,000, these ten regional public universities provide training at the undergraduate (bachelor) level mainly in the following fields: Law, agricultural sciences, tourism, administrative sciences, education and nursing.

​

​

PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION

​

After the experience of the “School of Applied Sciences” at the beginning of the 20th century, private higher education will take time to reappear in Haiti, if we compare with the history of education in other countries. of the Caribbean. The creation of modern private higher education establishments in Haiti is almost exclusively the work of Haitian universities having studied abroad or former officials of the country's public administration. Businesses in Haiti do not have a tradition of supporting higher education, as is the case in Anglo-Saxon countries.  Only one, Quisqueya University (UniQ), was born out of partnerships between the Haitian private business sector and the higher education sector. Without public aid or sponsorship from the private sector, these institutions are essentially self-financed from tuition fees paid by their students. Among the oldest, we can mention mainly :

• Adventist University of Haiti (UNAH), 1921

• Institute of Higher Commercial and Economic Studies (IHECE), between 1961 and 1963

• Higher Technical Institute of Haiti (ISTH) / Ruben Leconte University, 1962 

• University of Port-au-Prince (UP), 1983

• Quisqueya University (UniQ), 1988

• INUKA University, 1988

• National Diplomatic and Consular Academy (ANDC), 1988

• Jean Price-Mars University, 1991

• Lumiere University, 1993

• Higher School of Infotronics of Haiti (ESIH), 1995

• Notre Dame University of Haiti (UNDH), 1995

• Episcopal University of Haiti (UNEPH), 1995

 

During the 2000s, the number of private higher education institutions exploded, and today they occupy more than 80% of Haitian university space.

​

​

INTER-INSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 

 

Faced with the dispersal of public and private actions in the education sector, specifically in the higher education sub-sector, associations of establishments have emerged. In 2011 the “Conference of Rectors, Presidents and Leaders of Haitian Universities and Higher Education Institutions (CORPUHA)” was created. Recognized as a public utility since 2018, its mission is to "help the university sector to structure itself and offer quality education across the country". In February 2023, the "National Network of Public Higher Education of Haiti (RENES)" was born. According to its founders, its mission is to "help establish and develop the connectivity of Haitian public universities to the various international university networks for an improvement of university education, scientific research and services to the community in our country".

​

​

TODAY

 

Currently there are more than 250 higher education institutions in Haiti. Only 138 have State authorization to operate. This authorization is issued by the "Directorate of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Ministry of National Education."