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Haiti Higher Education
Haiti's most important institution of higher education
in the
1980s was the University of Haiti. Its origins date to the
1820s,
when colleges of medicine and law were established. In
1942 the
various faculties merged into the University of Haiti.
After a
student strike in 1960, the Duvalier government brought
the
university under firm government control and renamed it
the State
University. The government restored the original name in
1986.
In 1981 there were 4,099 students at the University of
Haiti,
of whom 26 percent were enrolled in the Faculty of Law and
Economics; 25 percent, in the Faculty of Medicine and
Pharmacy;
17 percent, in the Faculty of Administration and
Management; and
11 percent, in the Faculty of Science and Topography.
Despite the
important role played by agriculture in the Haitian
economy, only
5 percent of the university's students were enrolled in
the
Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. In 1981 the
University of Haiti had 559 professors, compared with 207
in
1967. Most professors worked part time, were paid on an
hourly
basis, and had little time for contact with students. The
University of Haiti also suffered severe shortages of
books and
other materials.
Two private post-secondary institutions were
established in
the 1980s--the Institut Universitaire Roi Christophe in
CapHaïtien and the Institut International d'Etudes
Universitaires in
Port-au-Prince. Other private institutions of higher
learning
included a school of theology and law schools in
Cap-Haïtien,
Gonaïves, Les Cayes, Jérémie, and Fort Liberté. A business
school, the Institut des Hautes Etudes Economiques et
Commerciales, was established in Port-au-Prince in 1961.
An
engineering school, the Institut Supérieur Technique
d'Haïti, was
founded in Port-au-Prince in 1962. The Institut de
Technique
Electronique d'Haïti, also in Port-au-Prince, provided
instruction in electrical engineering.
Data as of December 1989
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