By SIMON ROMERO
Published: March 6, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Thousands of schools in and around this devastated capital could remain closed for months or never reopen, according to Haitian and United Nations education officials. That leaves vast numbers of children languishing in camps or working in menial jobs as they struggle to survive.
Even before the Jan. 12 earthquake, only about half of Haiti's school-age children were enrolled in classes, a glaring symbol of the nation's poverty.
Unicef, basing its estimates on talks with government officials, said that more than 3,000 school buildings in the earthquake zone had been destroyed or damaged. Hundreds of teachers and thousands of students were killed, and officials are questioning the safety of the remaining buildings after violent aftershocks in recent weeks, making the goal of Haitian education officials to reopen many schools by April 1 seem increasingly remote.
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