Haiti to receive $50 million from development bank

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's schools will receive a $50 million grant from the Inter-American Development Bank.

The grant will go toward a five-year plan to build schools, boost attendance and improve the quality of education for up to 360,000 children.

Twenty public schools will be built for 8,200 children from preschool to the ninth grade. Each school will have a library, a cafeteria and energy and water systems and be accessible to students with disabilities.

The grant will also subsidize expenses for 35,000 children enrolled in private primary schools for two school years.

The majority of Haiti's schools are privately owned and few students can afford to attend. Only about half of the country's children go to school.

The bank made the announcement Thursday.