On September 28, 2026, the coastal municipality of Les Côteaux in Haiti’s South Department celebrated a landmark milestone for accessible higher technical education with the official opening of the country’s seventh Center for Higher Technical Education (Centres d’Enseignement Supérieur Technique, CEST). The new institution operates under the academic and administrative oversight of the Public University of the South in Les Cayes (UPSAC), marking another key step in the Haitian government’s national expansion of vocational-focused higher education across underserved regions.
The inauguration ceremony drew a cross-section of senior stakeholders, including the top political leadership of the South Department, rectors from multiple departmental public universities, Les Côteaux municipal government representatives, and prominent leaders from local civil society. Presiding over the event was Professor Jean-Robert Dossaint, head of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) delegation and strategic advisor to Minister Vijonet Déméro, who outlined a community-centered vision for the new center in his official remarks.
Dossaint emphasized that the impact of a technical higher education institution extends far beyond its physical campus, emphasizing its core territorial mandate to serve the broader region. “The Les Côteaux CEST must therefore look beyond its own walls,” he stated. “It must look toward other coastal municipalities. It must look toward the communal sections, agricultural operations, fishing activities, small businesses, enterprises, associations, and all the initiatives that sustain this region. Training must originate in the territory, address its needs, and return to the territory in the form of skills and solutions.”
Dr. Magdala Jean-Baptiste, Vice-President of the Council of Rectors of Departmental Public Universities (UPD) and Rector of the Public University of the Southeast in Jacmel (UPSEJ), echoed this place-based approach, noting that the center’s training programs will be tailored to align with the local economic landscape and the unique development potential of Les Côteaux and its neighboring municipalities.
For his part, Professor Edouard Jules, Rector of UPSAC, traced the growing institutional footprint of departmental public universities across Haiti, highlighting their evolving role as regional hubs of specialized knowledge. “A university established in a region does not merely train students; it helps create an intellectual, scientific, and professional environment capable of transforming that region,” Jules explained.
Etienne Louisseul France, Departmental Director of Education for the West, expanded on the transformative promise of practice-focused higher education, noting: “Higher education holds a special promise. It unites the acquisition of knowledge with its practical application; it links reflection with action, and the mastery of knowledge with the ability to receive, organize, execute, and solve the problems facing societies.”
The opening of the Les Côteaux CEST follows a series of similar institutional launches across Haiti in recent months, including new centers in Thiotte, Dame-Marie, and Petit-Goâve, as part of a broader national plan to roll out nine new technical higher education centers and six new secondary schools to expand education access across the country.