NEW PRESIDENT LAUNCHES EDUCATION FUND
(Ottawa Citizen) - By AFP
Martelly fulfils promise made during campaign
Haitian President Michel Martelly has launched a national fund to finance the education of two million children by taxing international calls and wire transfers to the impoverished country.
"I bring good news for the children of Haiti," the newly-elected Martelly said in announcing the project. One of his main campaign promises was expanding education in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.
The new funds will come from a tax of five cents on all incoming calls and $1.50 on all wire transfers, taxes expected to fall primarily on Haiti's diaspora.
Most of Haiti's four million schoolage children do not attend classes because of lack of funding, with 75 per cent of rural children having no access to an education, according to official figures.
Martelly hopes to raise $180 million for the new fund, which would be aimed at financing education for Haiti's poorest children
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