The UEH faces attrition crisis among professors

This forced displacement, accelerated by insecurity, deprives hundreds of students of some essential courses in their curriculum and delay their studies, according to six faculty leaders and professors as well as students contacted by AyiboPost

The departure of some of the qualified university staff abroad affects the course offerings at the State University of Haiti (UEH).

This forced displacement, accelerated by insecurity, deprives hundreds of students of some essential courses in their curriculum and delay their studies, according to six faculty leaders and professors as well as students contacted by AyiboPost.

The Institute of African Studies and Research of Haiti (IERAH/ISERSS) which trains professionals in the field of Social Sciences, has seen 40 of its teachers leave for foreign countries.

Just in the academic year 2023 – 2024, the faculty recorded the departure of a total of 15 professors for other countries.

Within this faculty, “the department of heritage and tourism is most affected by this loss of teaching personel,” reckons Sterlin Ulysse, dean of the IERAH.

Sterlin Ulysse, Dean of the IERAH, photo taken in his office in Lafleur du chaine. Photo: Fenel Pélissier | January 08, 2025

In recent years, the rise in insecurity in the country has pushed many Haitian professionals to leave the country.

This situation affects, among others, the banking and health sectors.

An AyiboPost investigation published in April 2023 revealed that specialized doctors have left the country in the face of the insecurity brought about by the gangs.

The State University of Haiti is not immune to this crisis of attrition in leadership roles.

The Faculty of Human Sciences (FASCH) began to lose its professors as of the 2017–2018 academic period.

This trend accelerated in 2019. A study by the institution that same year revealed that around 30% of the faculty had already left the faculty.

A final year sociology student at this faculty, Dickens says he is personally affected by the departure of professors at FASCH.

The absence of teachers who should provide fundamental courses in their discipline – such as theory 1 and 2 courses – « weighs heavily ».

“Sometimes we move up to the next level without having been able to complete all the courses from the previous level, some of which are necessary to understand what comes next” continues the student who says he is obliged to double his efforts in order to fill in these “gaps” either on the internet or at the Library.

However, he continues, “the presence of a more experienced hand to guide the student remains very important.”

The absence of certain teachers makes it difficult to find supervisors for students wishing to complete their dissertations.

This is the case for the sociology student at FASCH, Wasly Simon, who started writing his final dissertation in 2022.

« The teacher who is supervising my research project is not in Haiti,” explains Simon, emphasizing that exchanges are more rewarding when the teacher is present on site.

According to Josué Vaval, coordinator of the Faculty’s board, out of a total of 86 professors, 26 have left the institution, 39 are teaching in-person, and 21 are teaching online courses.

Josué Vaval, member of the FASCH board, photo taken in his office on avenue Christophe. Photo: Fenel Pélissier | November 13, 2024

“The majority of the professors who left the faculty are full-time teachers, teaching three courses per session,” he says.

The absence of certain professors makes the search for supervisors more difficult for students wishing to complete their dissertations.

The Faculty of Sciences (FDS) is bearing the brunt of the crisis’ impact.

More than 30% of its teachers have left the country.

“Insecurity affects us perhaps more than other UEH entities. We have teachers leaving for Canada, the United States of America, etc. », explains Edgard Etienne, member of the FDS management board who added that he can now count on only 3 of the 10 administrative secretaries who worked within the institution.

From the beginning of the gang offensive in February 2024, Rue Mgr Guilloux, where this faculty is located, has become impassable.

Within the four departments of this faculty which trains professionals in civil engineering, electromechanical engineering, and architectural engineering, among others, only one has a coordinator, says Etienne, head of the preparatory cycle at the FDS, adding that other coordinators are in the process of retiring.

According to the official, other master’s programs offered by the institution are operating with difficulty, considering the situation.

Since the attack on the faculty by gangs in March 2024, several pieces of the institution’s equipment have been stolen.

In 2022, the heads of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy (FMP) carried out an evaluation of the 211 teachers surveyed.

“We have around 20 professors who have left the country,” relates Marc-Félix Civil, vice-dean of the FMP. Among them, continues the manager, “a majority continue to provide online courses.”

Since the start of attacks in downtown Port-au-Prince in March 2024, bandits from the Viv Ansanm gang coalition stole several vehicles and other equipment from the FMP in April 2024.

From then on, the institution, which had a total of 16 classrooms, is struggling to find suitable spaces for courses and training sessions.

“Since the loss of the general hospital, finding internship placements remains difficult,” indicates Marc-Félix Civil.

For the time being, part of the faculty is temporarily housed at the Turgeau Hospital and another at the Haitian Medical Association.

This brain drain has not spared the Faculty of Applied Linguistics (FLA), which trains linguistics and translation professionals.

“We lost five administrative employees, and five faculty members left the country,” faculty secretary Daniel Prophète told AyiboPost.

Of a total of 53 teachers, those who are outside the country offer distance learning courses.

In 2024, some courses were not offered because some teachers are not proficient in online teaching tools or because of unreliable internet, says the secretary of the FLA.

The Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), an institution providing training for educators within the UEH, also saw 5 out of around 50 of its teachers emigrate to Canada and the United States of America.

“We have an eminent professor who is leaving for the United States. Others go to the provinces like: Carrefour, Petit-Goâve, Léogâne, Ganthier, etc., » according to Odonel Pierre-Louis, academic director of the ENS, ensuring that some professors continue to teach online.

In September 2023, Professor Solon Fortunat, who taught mathematics and physics courses at ENS, was assassinated by bandits at Carrefour Péan.

The fleeing of academic personnel means a heavier workload for the professors who remain.

The latter are sometimes obliged to teach more hours than before.

“Some teachers who use to teach three courses are now forced to teach seven,” explains the coordinator of the Faculty of Human Sciences, Josué Vaval to AyiboPost.

An unremunerated excess of additional courses for these teachers, continues the manager.

In a 2024 annual ranking of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) organization, which specializes in the evaluation of higher education, no Haitian university appears among the 430 universities listed for Latin America and the Caribbean.

However, there are 10 Dominican universities, in first place.

According to professor-researcher Jonel Dilhomme, one of the most immediate effects of the exodus of teachers is the decline in the quality of teaching.

“The exodus of professors seriously compromises the ability of the UEH to conduct high-quality research,” Jonel Dilhomme, professor of methodology at the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences, explains to AyiboPost.

“Their departure,” he underscores, “results in a loss of skills and expertise in areas essential to national development, such as agriculture, public health, and engineering.”

Additionally, continues Dilhomme, “the delay, or even the suspension of research projects at UEH, limits the university’s contribution to solving Haiti’s socio-economic problems.”

“In the absence of experienced teachers, the transmission of critical knowledge is compromised, which limits the practical and theoretical skills of graduates,” explains the researcher to AyiboPost.

The departure of state university professors abroad impacts the holding of certain courses requiring practical approaches and laboratory experiences.

For the IERAH/ISERSS faculty, which has three of its archeology experts outside the country, it becomes difficult to offer this course, requiring presence in the field.

The departure of state university professors abroad impacts the holding of certain courses requiring practical approaches and laboratory experiences.

The same goes for the FMP.

For this health sciences teaching institution, some courses are conducted remotely while others, which are more practical, such as laboratory and clinical teaching, are not.

We are obliged to replace those teachers who have left and who cannot give their lessons online with others in order to ensure the continuity of teaching,” explains the Dean Civil.

At the Faculty of Sciences, if those responsible try to maintain hybrid teaching schedules, some courses requiring laboratory intervention cannot be taught properly.

Around 15 laboratories have for the time being remained inaccessible at their locale in Rue Mgr Guilloux.

Faculty leaders say they have lost all contact with certain professors.

This is for example the case of the Institute of African Studies and Research of Haiti.

“There are professors who, for almost two years, have not set foot in the faculty and have not dispensed their courses,” confides Sterlin Ulysse, Dean of the IERAH.

According to the dean, some professors refuse to teach whether online or in person.

At the FMP, some professors do not establish any contact with the institution, according to Marc-Felix Civil.

According to figures obtained from the rectorate of the State University of Haiti (UEH), the higher education institution has 1,900 professors (temporary, contract, and full-time) for all of its 11 entities. The UEH has a limited capacity of 3,000 students per year.

However, UEH’s academic management does not have a precise inventory regarding the loss of senior staff.

“It is difficult to determine how many professors have left the university. Because they continue to teach remotely,” Jean Poincy, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at UEH, tells AyiboPost, who also specifies that he cannot say whether the staff in question will return to the country to continue teaching their courses.

Jean Poincy, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, in his office at the Rectorate of the State University of Haiti. Photo: Fenel Pélissier | November 13, 2024

Despite the constraints, some faculties continue to offer some of their services remotely.

Since March 2024, displaced people fleeing gang violence in Port-au-Prince have occupied the FLA facility in Bois-Verna.

Since then, without a physical locale, the faculty has been operating remotely, officials said.

“We only have an emergency space at the UEH rectorate. And, the majority of our services operate remotely,” explains Daniel Prophète, secretary of this faculty.

Other entities attacked in February 2024 by the Viv Ansanm gang coalition also have their administrations temporarily housed at the UEH rectorate.

Faculties, such as the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Faculty of Applied Linguistics, the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences and the National Institute of Administration, Management and Advanced International Studies, organized their usual entrance exams for incoming cohorts in 2024.

For the 2024 – 2025 academic year, officials at the State University of Haiti are observing a 96% increase in registrations, or 27,146 registered students.

A figure which exceeds that of the 2023 – 2024 year, which stood at 13,860 registrants.

In view of these challenges, the rectorate of the UEH, which has a budget of 2.3 billion gourdes, has announced that it wants to compensate for the loss of teachers through the UEH Teacher Replacement Program.

The initiative, not yet adopted, aims to recruit the two best graduates per faculty on an annual basis as instructors, assistant teachers, and other staff with a master’s degree for full-time positions within the faculties.

After two years of service, those in the first category will become employees of the State university, and will have to continue their studies at the master’s level with support from the UEH. This strategy aims to reach 168 assistants over a minimum of fifteen years.

By Fenel Pélissier& Jérôme Wendy Norestyl

Wethzer Piercin contributed to this investigation.

Cover | A photo illustrating a classroom at a faculty of the UEH. Photo : Université d’Etat d’Haiti UEH– March 11,2022

► AyiboPost is dedicated to providing accurate information. If you notice any mistake or error, please inform us at the following address : hey@ayibopost.com

Keep in touch with AyiboPost via:

► Our Channel Telegram : Click here

► Our Channel WhatsApp : Click here

► Our Community WhatsApp : Click here