UNICEF warns of $23 million deficit in Haiti's education system as it announces grant

No chairs. Missing blackboards. A lack of bathrooms.

Schools in Haiti’s capital and beyond are crumbling as gang violence deepens poverty and disrupts basic government services as the state education system faces a $23 million deficit.

“The country needs help,” said Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UNICEF fund Education Cannot Wait.

On Friday, she announced a $2.5 million grant that is expected to help nearly 75,000 children via cash transfers, school feeding programs and other initiatives.

Sherif was in Haiti as part of a three-day trip during which she visited schools and met with teachers, principals, state officials and civil society members. She pleaded with the European Union and countries including France and the U.S. to help close the educational deficit as she noted the impact violence has had on education.

“My main concern is security,” she said.

Gangs killed or injured more than 2,500 people in the first three months of the year, with violence disrupting life in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and elsewhere.

At least 919 schools remain closed in Port-au-Prince and in the central region of Artibonite because of the gang violence. The closures have affected more than 150,000 students, according to UNICEF.

“Education is part of the solution,” Sherif said. “That would end extreme poverty, extreme violence and create political stability and create a reliable workforce.”

Gang violence also has left some 580,000 people homeless across Haiti, with many crowding into makeshift shelters or taking over schools, causing them to shut down.

Schools that remain operational are increasingly forced to take students from other institutions that have shuttered.

The Jean Marie Vincent School in central Port-au-Prince, for