ARTICLE - SCHOOLS - LOANS - CREDIT BANK

HAITIAN SCHOOLS TO RECEIVE LOANS FROM CREDIT BANK FOR FREE EDUCATION
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE - An agreement was reached on Monday between the Minister of Education and the National Credit Bank (BNC) for schools to receive funds for the free education program.

The schools will be required to meet the following requirements:

- letter of authorization to open the account from the Departmental Directorate of Education concerned duly signed and sealed,

- the license of the school if available,

- the letter to the BNC, having both specimen signatures of the account and the identification of the two signatories, among others.

An initial disbursement of 33% of the entire grant will be effective as soon as the formalities are met. Schools that do not have a contract with the ministry have a moratorium of three months to integrate into the program, the ministry of education said in a statement.

The Ministry of Education looks forward to the understanding of school officials concerned with respecting the procedures to activate the process of transferring funds for the creation and activation of an account at the BNC.

President Michel Martelly campaigned on the promise of allowing every student to attend school for free and in June launched the National Fund for Education, (FNE) which would raise $8.5 million [US] per month through taxes placed on international calls and money transfers.

In November the Ministry of Education declared the FNE inoperable. Members of government have not disclosed how much money was raised or where the money is.