I remember a couple years ago, my dad was sick and he had a few months left to live and I went to Haiti to spend the most time possible with him. One day, we were laying on his bed and I asked him what if I came to study in Haiti, at the time I lived in Montreal and I fell in love with the country all over again and I figured since I was planning on coming back eventually, why not now? This way, I'd get to spend more time with him.
I remember his reply like it was yesterday, he said:
"Parents here work really hard so they can give their kids the chance to study abroad, you are already in Canada, it would be really stupid to move backwards".
I understood exactly what he meant so I didn't argue with him.
I am extremely lucky, thanks to my status in both Canada and the US, whatever education I want to pursue I get to pay the "resident fee", my friends that are international students pay double, sometimes triple the price even. How crazy is that? We are told that Education is the primary key to success yet, we have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars just to get one.
What happens to the people that can't afford to study abroad?
There are decent universities in Haiti like Quiskeya and Notre-Dame but those degrees aren't even recognized in other countries. Really, someone that studied Law or Medicine won't be able to practice their career unless they start EVERYTHING over in the country they are moving to.
However, if I come in the country with an American diploma they won't ask me to start over. When applying for a job in Haiti, foreign degrees are considered BEFORE the local ones. So basically, someone with an Haitian diploma might be better qualified for a job than I am but, just because my diploma is from the States, I'll have more chances of getting the job. It's bad enough someone is not able to afford a foreign education now we punish them for it too?
Don't get me wrong, a foreign diploma is always welcomed but why isn't the local ones at the same level?
There's not even enough jobs in the danm country and we are putting our own on the side. Isn't that some kind of discrimination?
"Discrimination:
Noun: discrimination; plural noun: discriminations
1. the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex."
Yup. Sounds like discrimination to me.
Now whose job is it to fix this?
Other countries don't want our diplomas, WE don't want our diplomas so how are Haitians suppose to build a future for themselves?
I know people that go to the Dominican Republic to study... even our neighbors have better schools than we do.
Maybe people don't realize how big of an issue this is.
Since we just started the month of September, students all over the world are getting ready for their new school year, hence why I decided to make an article on our Education System. Plus, lately my number of readers has been reaching the hundreds, I'm hoping they will read this and maybe they can tell a friend to tell a friend that will talk to another friend and eventually it will raise enough questions so we can do something about it.
Our future is important but, the future of our country is important as well, if we don't have a country to go back to after we're done studying, then we will be immigrants for the rest of our lives and we all know there is no place like home... so let's work towards a better home.
I will end this post with a quote which describes the problem stated in this article perfectly.
"Discrimination has a lot of layers that it tough for minorities to get a leg up. - Bill Gates"
I thank you all for reading my "thoughts" today.
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