Haiti’s national education sector marked a major milestone last week with the official inauguration of two new Technical Higher Education Centers (Centres d’Enseignement Supérieur Technique, CEST) in the country’s northern and northwestern regions, advancing a government-wide plan to expand accessible public tertiary training across underserved areas. The ceremonies were led by Professor Jean-Robert Dossaint, Strategic Advisor to Haiti’s Minister of National Education Vijonet Déméro, who opened the new facilities in Mare-Rouge (within the Môle Saint-Nicolas commune’s second communal section) and Saint-Raphaël, located in Haiti’s North department.
The Mare-Rouge CEST, based in Môle Saint-Nicolas, has been designated the regional hub for Lower North-West, serving a broad catchment population across four key communes: Jean-Rabel, Bombardopolis, Baie-de-Henne and Môle Saint-Nicolas. Meanwhile, the Saint-Raphaël CEST will operate as the primary technical training hub for the entire North department, covering the communes of Saint-Raphaël, Dondon, Ranquitte, La Victoire and Pignon.
During his remarks at both inauguration events, Dossaint outlined the core strategic purpose of the new CEST network: to expand and strengthen the reach of public higher education across Haiti, particularly in rural and underserved regions outside major urban centers. He praised the proactive commitment of local government authorities in bringing the projects to completion and highlighted the strong public enthusiasm for the initiative, which centers on youth skills development, professional integration, and driving inclusive local economic growth.
The two new facilities join three other CESTs that have already been launched in a phased rollout across Haiti this year. On August 12, 2026, Minister Déméro presided over the official opening of the Anse-à-Veau CEST, formally named the Fabre Nicolas Geffrard Center, while just three days later on August 15, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé joined Minister Déméro to launch operations at the Petit-Goâve CEST.
The full CEST initiative was formally announced in an official circular published by Minister Déméro on August 9, 2026, which outlined plans to establish nine regional CEST hubs across the country, all administratively affiliated with Haiti’s Departmental Public Universities (UPD). Every CEST in the network offers an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to train and certify mid-level professionals and multiskilled technicians specialized in rural development, a priority focus for driving growth in Haiti’s largely rural regional economies.
The full network of nine hubs covers 10 of Haiti’s administrative departments and reaches dozens of underserved communes nationwide. Beyond the newly inaugurated Mare-Rouge and Saint-Raphaël hubs, and the already launched Anse-à-Veau and Petit-Goâve facilities, the remaining planned hubs include: the Thiotte CEST, serving the Belle-Anse arrondissement and covering Thiotte, Grand-Gosier, Anse-à-Pitres, Belle-Anse and Forêt des Pins; the Côteaux CEST, a regional hub for the South Coast covering eight communes from Saint-Jean du Sud to Tiburon; the Dame-Marie CEST, serving the Anse-d’Hainault Arrondissement across five communes; the Anse-à-Galets CEST, the first tertiary technical hub for the island of La Gonâve, covering Anse-à-Galets and Pointe-à-Raquettes; and the Gris-Gris CEST, serving the Bainet Arrondissement and covering Bainet and Côtés-de-Fer.