15 months! It has been 15 months since we’ve posted on the blog. My how time flies with active ministry and transitions occurring. In the process, our blog took a step back from priority. Over the course of this time, we expanded our school from Preschool, to include Kindergarten, and 1st grade beginning this fall. Haiti as a country has also experienced challenges in many arenas, some ongoing, some new.
The time has come to begin writing on the blog again. To start, we will share a piece that was featured on the Apparent Project Facebook page over the course of a week. Going forward we will post articles pertaining to Apparent Project, as well as Haiti in general, to keep you up to date on what is happening.
Without further ado, our Education in Haiti feature, (originally published on Facebook).
Education in Haiti – Challenges Abound
School is out for summer. So, while our students head to the countryside to stay with family, or play in the neighborhood, we would like to share a bit about the state of education in Haiti, and how we at Apparent Project are working towards doing things differently and better than average.
There are a few key challenges that affect education for the children in Haiti. In this article, we will share 3 challenges, and how the Apparent Project school is working to counter these realities that we are up against. The three areas we will discuss are shortage of qualified teachers, poor literacy rates, and cost prohibitive enrollment fees.
Shortage of Qualified Teachers
According to a report by USAID, half of public sector teachers in Haiti lack basic qualifications and nearly 80% have not received any pre-service training. If you take a minute to think about the implications of an under-educated staff that is teaching the students, what type of education do you think many students are receiving? Parents work very hard to earn the fees to pay for their child to go to school, and they may be sending them to a school with teachers who are not qualified to teach.
As an organization, Apparent Project does not believe this is a proper way to run a school. When we began our school, our most important decision was hiring the right teacher that could set a foundation of excellence and lead the future teachers that will be hired as grades are added. The first teacher we hired is Master level educated, has taken many CEU’s in the states, is fluent in Creole, French, and English, and has taught for over 18years. She has taught at the school that upper class Haitians send their children to. After many years working in the higher level schools, she was ready to make a change and work in a school that teaches children who are part of the underprivileged class, that would not have access to the schools she taught in. Her heart is the children in poverty would have access to quality education.
When we added kindergarten the following year, our lead teacher stayed with her students, and we hired a new teacher for the Preschool classroom. Our second teacher hire is a veteran teacher with 20 years of teaching experience, has owned an early childcare center, and has a certification in Montessori teaching (rare in Haiti). Together they have worked with assistant teachers to mentor them and lay the foundation for our school.
Each year we will be adding a grade, requiring adding to our teaching staff. Qualifications of training, fluency in French and Creole, and a philosophy that our students deserve an excellent education to allow them a fighting chance to rise out of poverty are vital to the growth of the school.
Poor literacy rates
Literacy rates in Haiti are exceedingly low. Approximately half of the population in Haiti is illiterate. And of the students who attend school, nearly 75% cannot read by the end of 1st grade. This is hard to fathom, but in light of seeing that there is a shortage of qualified teachers, it begins to make more sense. That does not make the statistic any easier to swallow.
Because we value having highly qualified teachers leading the classrooms, our teachers, both lead and assistant, are fluent in both spoken and written Creole and French. Students learn their studies in French, and begin reading cursive letters in preschool. Many of the 3 year old preschool students have been reading words as well as letter recognition.
Small classrooms, highly qualified teachers, and a goal for all of our students to be literate are ensuring that the students at Apparent Project are part of a positive statistic rather than a negative one in the area of literacy.
Cost prohibitive enrollment fees
Education is not free in Haiti. Although the government has expressed intention to provide public education for all students in Haiti, there are many contributing factors that have prevented this from being a reality. As such, nearly 80% of all school in Haiti are private, run by non-profits, churches, and NGO’s. Lack of government oversight gives free reign for schools to charge whatever they like for parents. Sometimes the price reflects the education provided, sometimes not.
We have decided as an organization that we will provide an excellent education to our students, and the fees that parents pay are reflective of what the parent earn, rather than what it costs to operate the school. The reality is that it costs over $200 per student to keep the school operational. There are many factors that influence this cost per child. The community that we are located has high building rent and operational costs, highly educated teachers who provide education and teacher mentoring should be compensated fairly, and school books are purchased for each student.
Parents have a monthly fee that they pay, as having a financial investment in the education of their children helps ensure parents bring their child to school on time, homework is completed, and places a value on the education they are receiving. Their fee is reflective on their salary, rather than on operational costs, as our goal is to have the students in school. So, parents pay between $15-$20 per month, depending on which grade the child is in that year.
The difference between what parents contribute and what the operational costs are for each student is where we invite our community to come alongside parents and fill in the financial gap. The way we do that is through our Class Champion community.
Become a Class Champion
We have shared about challenges with education in Haiti and how we are working towards creating a school that will allow our students to be a bridge for the future. Students who are from the poorer class in Haiti, who live the reality of poverty daily. These students are receiving an education that is normally only accessible to the highest class in Haiti. We see these students as the bridge to the future. Because of their community connection and growing up to see the problems that poor families face, and their education that teaches them problem solving skills, literacy, critical thinking skills, and character, they will have tools available to them to help think of an implement change in their neighborhoods. This is a lofty and long-term goal. And with this vision guiding us, we choose carefully how we proceed forward.
We cannot do this solely on our own. And this is where we invite you to become part of the story as a Class Champion. Our Class Champions are an amazing community that comes alongside our parents, providing financial support monthly. In turn, we invite you to a private group where we share more individual stories and information about the students and teachers in each class. It is a place to get to know others who are part of the community. Together we are better, and our Class Champions are simply wonderful!!
