Haiti: Slowly Joining the Global Classroom

For Haiti to successfully rebuild after an earthquake, hurricane and cholera outbreak and years of ongoing national turmoil, access to education must be improved and education technology must be implemented.

University of the Peoples, the world's first tuition-free online university which works to advance global education and access to education, is working to help Haitians displaced from their universities by opening a center where students can take advantage of their online course offerings. Although Haiti is one of the most undereducated and underdeveloped nations in the world, some lucky Haitian citizens have had the chance to pursue higher education.
Haitian students who have earned a college degree are essentially guaranteed immediate, often prestigious employment throughout the country.
Due to Haiti's most recent misfortunes, however, many of the university buildings were badly damaged if not completely destroyed leaving the student without a place to continue their degree programs. University of the Peoples decided to partner with the small country and offer misplaced students a way to complete their degree even without the physical space of their university buildings.

By providing online education opportunities to one of the most disadvantaged nations in the world, University of the Peoples is helping to not only showcase the opportunities online education has offered to people globally, but also to help Haiti build for its future.

The ongoing challenge, says University of the Peoples founder Shai Reshef, is using technology to connect even more students to education. Currently, UP serves 250 students in Haiti and 700 other students from more than 100 different countries. It is the hope of the online university to be able to bring education via online learning to thousands more in need or underprivileged people in regions across the world. The lucky Haitian students who have been accepted into the UP program often travel an hour or more (each way) to reach the student computer center.
They log in to their computers and enter into a virtual, global classroom.
Students choose from two degree levels and two degree programs- an associate's or bachelor's degree and a computer science or business program.
Reshef hopes to eventually offer students a much wider variety of degree levels and programs. Organizations like UP help to advance global education opportunities and access to countries, like Haiti, who are historically underprivileged.
Reshef says that even more organizations like UP are needed to be able to democratize education.

By utilizing digital tools and technology to open educational doors for people everywhere, organizations like University of the Peoples are helping students in Haiti and other countries harness and use online technology to earn a degree.
For Haiti to continue to rebuild and develop, Haitians need enhanced educational opportunities. It seems as if UP is helping Haiti head in the right direction.