President Hipolito Mejia explained that Minister of Education Milagros Ortiz Bosch’s announcement of forthcoming resolution to allow children without birth certificates to enter the public school system seeks primarily to benefit Dominicans. But, he explained, the measure will apply to children of other nationalities primarily for human rights reasons, regardless of whether they are Haitians. Opponents say the measure will become an additional incentive for Haitians to migrate to the DR where they receive free health and now will be able to get a receive free education services that are not available in their country. Those in favor, say thousands of uneducated Haitians are a worse burden to the nation. Others point out the logistical difficulties in applying the measure that will require hundreds of more school rooms and the hiring of new teachers at a time when public school teachers are demanding a 100% pay raise. An estimated 200,000 school age children do not have birth certificates. In the DR it is relatively easy to declare a child upon birth. But when parents go beyond the two month deadline, the process is time-consuming, tedious and can be relatively costly. The case of the undocumented Haitians is more difficult, as most of the parents of the new immigrants do not have any legal documentation themselves. Most Haitians in Haiti do not have legal documentation. The plan is to issue the students a student identification card.
