The educational situation in Haiti is abysmal. We get a hint that Haitian education may be under duress when we see that it is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. The base measure of a country’s educational system is its literacy rate. Haiti’s is 61% while it’s next door neighbor —the Dominican Republic—is 93%. And only 12% of Haitian students in first grade will make it through high school. [CIA World Factbook/ MENFP School Census 2013-2014]
A striking statistic for Haiti is the number of private schools—85% compared to 25% for the United States. The presence of so many private schools speaks to a profound lack of financial wherewithal to support a public education system. How this came to be is tied up with the legacy of the Duvalier dictatorships, a persistent oppressive class structure and neo-liberal policies of the many donor International Nongovernmental Organizations ( INGOs) in Haiti. Where the government failed to provide schools, Christian missionaries did so—at the invitation of Papa Doc Duvalier. And of the private schools 55% are Christian. [MENFP School Census 2013-2014/ Private School Universe (PSS) / Study on Governance Challenges for Education in Fragile Situations: Haiti Country Report by Euro-Trends and European Commission, 2009]
In the United States private schools are considered typically of better quality than public schools. In Haiti, the finest schools are private but the majority of private and public schools are of mediocre quality. The schools of highest quality prepare students for entry to French, Canadian or American universities.
The mode of teaching in Haiti is out-of-date by about 50 years. It features rote memorization and physical discipline. The majority of teachers are not trained in teacher colleges nor have had access to professional development. To give an idea of the lack of training, only 28% of teachers have completed elementary school and only 10% have teacher training qualifications. So teachers are teaching in the manner in which they were taught. Active learning is not used in the classroom. Harsh discipline is considered necessary to control what can be a class of 50 students—not an uncommon class size. Public school teachers must also contend with missed pay and go out on strike thus decreasing the amount of time students are in the classroom. [ Study on Governance Challenges for Education in Fragile Situations: Haiti Country Report by Euro-Trends and European Commission, 2009]
There is also the issue of high rate of grade repetition. This is due to a combination a policy of state testing and poor educational standards. To move from one grade to another a student must pass a state test. No pass—no promotion. Since the quality of education is so low, there is a low pass rate. So a family can spend one year’s precious tuition for nothing. If the family has the means, they may be able to have the student repeat. More likely is that the student will drop out for a period of time or permanently. Many children also start school late—the mean age of entry to first grade is 10.[ Students and the Market for Schools in Haiti ] This frequently leads to situations where class can have an 8 year old and a 15 year old sitting next to each other in the classroom. This means attention issues and discipline challenges. Multiply several times in a classroom and you have a recipe for real problems. [Students and the Market for Schools in Haiti]