INTL 190 - Haiti in a Transnational Context

Inequality of Access of Education

Another similarity that surfaces is that privatization of the education institution in both Haiti and Chile has resulted in inequality of access of education. For instance, in Chile, the domination of privately run schools has led to inherently unequal opportunities for students who come from low income families (Espinoza & González, 2013). The students from low income families consistently experience substandard education achievements due to the bias in favor of the privatization measures in the country. Due to the privatization of education centers, this measure has not only intensified the already existing socioeconomic divide between the public and the private institution, it has also ensured that students that come from affluent families are the ones who access quality education and also enables them to secure spots in the universities and as well as the choice of careers. This is similar to the situation in Haiti but at a significantly different level. In Haiti, considering that both the public and private learning institutions ask for tuition fees that most Haitian parents find unaffordable, more than 200,000 children remain out of school. Similarly, the few students who come from affluent families are the ones that afford to secure a spot in the private dominated education realm. Similar to Chile, the privatization of educational institutions has intensified or rather increases the already worse socioeconomic divide in Haiti.
Generally, privatization of the education institutions in Haiti and Chile has created a highly stratified school system in terms of social status. Privatization has intensified the socioeconomic divide in the two countries and created limited opportunities for low income students to access better education (Matear, 2006). However, it is imperative to note that even though these students may have the opportunity to apply to private institutions, there are two factors that have prevented them from gaining an impartial access to the schools. The first factor is the fact that students who come from low income families have limited information from regarding the choice of school. Similarly, in both Chile and Haiti, students who come from low income families also have less or no means necessary to transport them to the private institutions in the urban areas. Therefore, it is prudent to argue that as a result of privatization of the school system in both Chile and Haiti, it has created a highly stratified education system as poor families are unable to afford fees to enroll their children in private schools and give them quality education while the affluent students are enrolled in private schools and are able to access quality education. In this regard, the students who come from low income families are left trapped in the public municipal schools that are barely equipped to enhance substantive learning.

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