They are more than 130 young people who have benefited from a scholarship in Mexico to review their diploma on June 27, 2022 during a ceremony held in the gardens of the Embassy of Haiti in Mexico City, in the presence of the chargé d’affaires of Haiti in Mexico Rody Jean and Imanol Belausteguigoitia of the Mexican Chancery.
There are still more than a hundred to receive this famous paper crowning a cycle of higher education of 4 years or more.
The program “300 scholarships for Haiti”, is part of a partnership signed in December 2012 between Mexico and Haiti two countries, represented respectively by the chancellors Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno and Pierre Richard Casimir. The follow-up was coordinated by Ambassador Guy Lamothe.
This normative framework aimed to grant more than 300 scholarships to Haiti, distributed as follows: 125 during 2013, 100 in 2014 and 75 in 2015.
These scholarships were issued under a bilateral agreement that provided, among other things, the return of the recipients to Haiti to put their knowledge to use in the country. However, due to a lack of follow-up between the two partner states, beneficiaries of the three cohorts who completed their studies in disciplines such as civil engineering, mining engineering, mechanical engineering, network and telecommunications engineering, multimedia and e-commerce engineering, and renewable energy engineering, were unable to obtain their degrees. Some had remained in Mexico, others had returned to Haiti or had left for other countries.
In the search for proof that could allow them to advance academically and professionally, these Haitian scholarship holders in Mexico had begun last April various personal and collective steps.
All the diplomas are ready, had indicated to Zoom Haiti News, Mackenson Montis, who was waiting for his degree in civil engineering since 2019. “We have not yet received them simply because the authorities of Mexico and Haiti can not yet agree on the terms of delivery. It is necessary to review the terms of the agreement” said Mackenson Montis.
This situation constitutes an obstacle on the road of these scholarship holders. “Without a degree, I have lost several opportunities for study and work. Among them, a master’s scholarship in Spain. Other comrades and I tried to put our skills at the service of the state by returning to Haiti in 2019. But there was clearly no integration plan for us. I was forced to leave the country again,” lamented Julie Généus. She studied tourism management and development between 2014 and 2018 in Mexico.
These students who have completed their studies plead for the respect of the normative framework signed in November 2012 between the governments of Haiti and Mexico. Starting with their degree, an essential element to integrate the professional circuit.