Students from the State University of Haiti (UEH) took to the streets of Port-au-Prince on June 27 to protest an increase in their registration fees from 500 gourdes (about $11.53) to 1,000 gourdes. The administration also added a 500 gourde surcharge and changed the cut-off date for registration. The protesters reportedly threw rocks and bottles, set up barricades of burning tires and smashed the windshields of a dozen vehicles parked at the administrative building. Six students were arrested; they were released later in the day. UEH rector Jean-Vernet Henry quickly announced that the increase had been made without his knowledge; the old fees would be restored, university officials said, along with the old registration date.
As the national public university, UEH attracts students who can’t afford to pay for private education. “[T]he great majority of the youths can’t even pay the required 500 gourdes,” ethnology student Amos Toussaint said. “[A] decision like this is aimed at excluding those who don’t have the means to pay the admission costs.”(Haïti Libre, Haiti, June 28; AlterPresse, Haiti, June 28) UEH students tied up parts of downtown Port-au-Prince for several days last October protesting the killing of a student by an agent of the Haitian National Police (PNH).
From Weekly News Update on the Americas, June 30.
