Why a Back-to-School Drive Matters More Than Ever for Haiti's Children
For a child in Haiti, walking into a classroom on the first day of school is no longer something that can be taken for granted.
According to UNICEF, one in seven children in Haiti is now out of school, and almost one million more are at risk of dropping out. Gang violence destroyed 284 schools in 2024, and 47 more in January 2025 alone — in Port-au-Prince, that violence forced more than 1,600 schools across four departments to close by the end of April 2025, disrupting learning for over 243,000 students and 7,500 teachers. Add in the families displaced by natural disasters and political instability, and it's clear: for many Haitian children, the barrier to school isn't motivation. It's access.
The cost of "just" a backpack
Haiti's school system is heavily privatized — roughly 80% of primary schools are non-public, which means most families pay tuition, fees, and the cost of uniforms, shoes, notebooks, and books out of pocket. For a family that has lost a home, a job, or a loved one to the crisis, that cost is often the one thing standing between a child and a classroom.
That's exactly the gap a back-to-school drive is built to close. It's not just about giving a child a backpack — it's about removing the one obstacle that a family, already stretched thin, cannot absorb on top of everything else. When a child shows up on the first day with the supplies they need, they show up with something else too: the confidence that they belong there.
Why it matters beyond the first day
Research and experience both point to the same pattern: children who start the school year equipped and supported are more likely to stay enrolled through the year. Attendance builds on itself — a child who has what they need to keep up with schoolwork in September is far more likely to still be in class in April.
The stakes are especially high right now. UNICEF has also reported that child recruitment into armed groups surged 70% in the past year, with children making up as much as half of some armed groups' membership. Every child who stays in school is a child who has somewhere else to be — a future being built instead of a future being taken.
What EducNation Foundation is doing
This is the mission behind our Back To School 1,000 Campaign: to reach 1,000 students across Haiti with essential school supplies — backpacks, notebooks, writing materials, and other learning tools — so they can start the academic year equipped and ready, not left behind before it even begins.
It's a simple equation. A $35 gift provides school materials for one student. Multiply that by a community of donors, and you get a campaign that puts a thousand children back in the classroom.
How you can help
You don't need to solve Haiti's education crisis to make a difference in it. You need to help one child open a notebook on the first day of school. Then another. Then another.
Donate to the Back To School 1,000 Campaign →
Every contribution — whether it's $35 for one student's supplies or a monthly gift that helps us plan ahead — moves a child closer to a full year in the classroom, and closer to the future education makes possible.
Sources: UNICEF, "Education under attack in Haiti"; Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies, "Haiti's Education Crisis" country brief (updated November 2025).