Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
In Haiti, the official entry age for pre-primary education has been set at 3 years old. While data on the number of years of free and compulsory pre-primary education is not available, the net enrolment rate for pre-primary amounted to 61.57% as of 2016.
Governance
In Haiti, responsibility for financing pre-primary education lies primarily with the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP), which oversees education sector budgeting, planning, and expenditure across all formal education levels, including préscolaire. Public resources for pre-primary education are allocated through the national budget, prepared and executed under the authority of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with funds channelled to MENFP to support public provision, staff, learning materials, infrastructure, and sector governance. While MENFP finances and supervises public pre-primary provision, overall financing at this level is shared with households and external partners.
Tuition-free status
The National Social Protection and Promotion Policy provides for free public preschool education as part of a holistic early childhood development package for children aged 0-5.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
Public resources for pre-primary are allocated through the national budget and channelled to MENFP, which finances public pre-primary provision alongside other education levels. The Departmental Education Directorates (DDE) function as deconcentrated offices of the MENFP and are responsible for implementing sector policies and managing administrative operations within their jurisdictions, including the supervision, management, and monitoring of pre-primary schools and centres located in their respective departments. Funding for pre-primary education is not transferred to local governments through separate intergovernmental financing mechanisms but is managed centrally through budgetary allocations to MENFP and its deconcentrated structures. However, no evidence was found of funding mechanisms that transfer resources from the central government to local governments for pre-primary education using explicit equity-based criteria.
2. Education resources to institutions
Support to the Haiti Education Sector Plan
Under the programme aligned with the Haiti Education Sector Plan, support is directed to targeted schools in poor areas of the northern regions and covers both public and private institutions. The financing approach differs by school status. Public schools receive school improvement grants, are included in the quality assurance system, and benefit from capacity building for teachers and school principals through school-level support measures. Private schools are supported through performance-based grants allocated on a per-pupil basis, particularly in areas where access to public schools is limited. In such contexts, the programme supports access to preschool and primary education for poor and rural children through per-pupil subsidies provided to selected private schools. Kindergarten provision is addressed as part of an integrated package together with primary education, meaning that public schools offering pre-primary classes are eligible for school improvement grants and quality assurance mechanisms alongside primary education.
3. Education resources to students and families
No evidence was found of financial support mechanisms for pre-primary education administered by the ministry in charge of pre-primary education, such as subsidies, vouchers, grants, or tax support for parents.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
The National Social Protection and Promotion Policy (NSPPP) includes social policy measures designed to improve access to early childhood services. The policy is led and coordinated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MAST) and frames support for children aged 0-5 as a package of mechanisms for early childhood development. This package combines essential health services, simplified birth registration, home visits for parenting and child development support, community-based early childhood centres, free public preschool education, and unconditional cash-based transfers to households. The NSPPP is guided by a principle of universality, with a phased approach that prioritises young children, households in extreme poverty, and vulnerable areas before expanding coverage. Within this design, unconditional cash transfers are intended to support household income and enable families to access available services.
