Status of Education in Haiti
Because Haiti is such an impoverished nation, the status of education is not like that of a first world or second world country. It is important for us to understand that if the status of education is taken seriously and reformed in Haiti, this would hold major changes for the future of the country.
The CIA World Factbook reports that about 60.7% of the Haiti’s total population is literate, literate meaning that those ages 15 and over can read and write. 57.3% of the female population is considered literate and 64.3% of the male population is considered literate. It is also noted on the website that there is “Not Applicable” noted under the Education Expenditures heading. Many teachers in the public sector have no basic qualifications and the US Agency for International Development website reports that about 80% of teachers have no pre-service training. The US Agency for International Development also partnered with other not for profit groups and governmental groups, one of them being Haitian School Project (HSP). The school HSP built was built using local labor and local materials. This in turn helped the economy of the small community where the school was built giving laborers and suppliers an income –not a government handout.
Because Haiti depends a great deal on foreign aid, with much of it coming from the U.S., the U.S. government has supported Haiti since 2010 improving the quality and access to education. The U.S. has built more than 600 semi-permanent classrooms allowing for more than 60,000 children to have a school after the earthquake. 885 teachers and 335 administrators have been trained on implementing Haitian Creole and French for their students. Reproductive health curriculum is now being taught to third-ninth graders. Summer reading camps and extra-curricular activities are being offered to children during summer and are run with the help of local volunteers, not foreign aid. (U.S. Agency for International Development Education Accomplishments, 2015).
Currently, enrollment rates have risen, but many schools in Haiti are privately owned (Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti, 2015). More specifically the US Agency for International Development website reports that about 80% of schools are privately owned in Haiti. These schools include church run operations (many of them foreign), nongovernment organizations, and other for profit organizations. Because they are privately run, many require tuition payments to be made. Many Haitian families cannot afford to make the average $120-$180 payment for their child or children to attend school (Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti, 2015). Because of this, many children stop attending school or can only attend when their family can afford it. Of the students that would return to their schooling, many come back at a grade level not appropriate for their age. An example of this would be a seventeen-year-old completing primary school. Some schools are now adopting tuition waiver programs. With the tuition fees waived, they are now seeing a higher retention of children keep with their schooling and complete schooling levels at an appropriate age. If more schools were to offer tuition waiver programs, this could mean a world of change for generations of Haitians to come.
Because Haiti is such an impoverished nation, the status of education is not like that of a first world or second world country. It is important for us to understand that if the status of education is taken seriously and reformed in Haiti, this would hold major changes for the future of the country.
The CIA World Factbook reports that about 60.7% of the Haiti’s total population is literate, literate meaning that those ages 15 and over can read and write. 57.3% of the female population is considered literate and 64.3% of the male population is considered literate. It is also noted on the website that there is “Not Applicable” noted under the Education Expenditures heading. Many teachers in the public sector have no basic qualifications and the US Agency for International Development website reports that about 80% of teachers have no pre-service training. The US Agency for International Development also partnered with other not for profit groups and governmental groups, one of them being Haitian School Project (HSP). The school HSP built was built using local labor and local materials. This in turn helped the economy of the small community where the school was built giving laborers and suppliers an income –not a government handout.
Because Haiti depends a great deal on foreign aid, with much of it coming from the U.S., the U.S. government has supported Haiti since 2010 improving the quality and access to education. The U.S. has built more than 600 semi-permanent classrooms allowing for more than 60,000 children to have a school after the earthquake. 885 teachers and 335 administrators have been trained on implementing Haitian Creole and French for their students. Reproductive health curriculum is now being taught to third-ninth graders. Summer reading camps and extra-curricular activities are being offered to children during summer and are run with the help of local volunteers, not foreign aid. (U.S. Agency for International Development Education Accomplishments, 2015).
Currently, enrollment rates have risen, but many schools in Haiti are privately owned (Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti, 2015). More specifically the US Agency for International Development website reports that about 80% of schools are privately owned in Haiti. These schools include church run operations (many of them foreign), nongovernment organizations, and other for profit organizations. Because they are privately run, many require tuition payments to be made. Many Haitian families cannot afford to make the average $120-$180 payment for their child or children to attend school (Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti, 2015). Because of this, many children stop attending school or can only attend when their family can afford it. Of the students that would return to their schooling, many come back at a grade level not appropriate for their age. An example of this would be a seventeen-year-old completing primary school. Some schools are now adopting tuition waiver programs. With the tuition fees waived, they are now seeing a higher retention of children keep with their schooling and complete schooling levels at an appropriate age. If more schools were to offer tuition waiver programs, this could mean a world of change for generations of Haitians to come.
![Picture](/uploads/6/0/6/9/60697305/7274962.png?422)
This chart shows where Haitians ages 15-24 are in their educational attainment. As we can see, many have an incomplete status and few have a complete status at any level. The lowest percent represented is those that have completed their secondary education.
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
The graph above shows the total percentage of Primary School Age children that are out of school. As we can see, the demographic with the most children out of school is of the poorest. The demographic with the least is of the richest in the country.
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
The graph above shows the percent of Haitian children that are of Secondary School Age that are not enrolled in school, similar to the other graph, we can see that the most children out of school are of the poorest demographic and those of the richest demographic make up the least percent of children not in school.
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
Works Cited:
Education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti. (2015, March 12). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Haiti. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Home • Haiti School Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
The Haiti School Project Responds To Our Show "It's Hard To Do Good" (2013, June 3). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Source: Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015 from http://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC%20NEP_Haiti.pd
Works Cited:
Education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Four Things You Need to Know About Education in Haiti. (2015, March 12). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Haiti. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Haiti National Education Profile 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Home • Haiti School Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
The Haiti School Project Responds To Our Show "It's Hard To Do Good" (2013, June 3). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Part 1
Part 2
What is the country that you are researching: Haiti
Write a brief summary of the economic system of the country: Identify and explain the type of economic system.
Haiti is classified as a free market economy by the CIA World Factbook. This means Haiti's economy is based off of supply and demand. They also have low labor costs and there is no tariff to recieve exports from the US.
Select three key economic indicators such as poverty rates, labor distribution, use of resources, etc. and analyze what this information says about the country, how does it compare to other countries, change over time, etc.:
Three economic indicators of Haiti can include poverty, susceptiblilty to natural disasters, and a lack of investment. It is estimated that 80% of Haiti's population live under the poverty line. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and many are not educated. In 2010 Haiti suffered a massive earthquake destroying their capital city and economy. In 2012 two hurricanes affected agricultural development as well slowing economic growth. This can be considered detrimental to the 2/5 of Haitians that depend on small scale agricultural farming (most in rural areas). Because Haiti is among one of the poorest nations, electricity is hard to come by. The infrastructure stems from it's lack of investment. As of December 2014, Haiti's debt reached 1.43 billion dollars. It is known that Haiti depends on assistance from other nations (more than half comes from aid sources) to remain as stable as possible.
With the above components in mind, it is hard to envision Haiti ever coming out of debt, especially given their geographical location. Their vulnerability to natural disaster could be considered their biggest challenge.
Identify the GDP - per capita for the country: 8.459 Billion USD
- What will be produced with your countrty's resources? Apparel and other manufactures as well as some farmed mangoes, cocoa, and coffee.
- How will these goods be produced? Goods will be produced in apparel factories by a small percent of the population, and agriculture produced by few skilled farmers.
- Who will use these goods? Apparel will be sold to places many Americans purchase clothing.
- Will these goods be exported? 83% will be exported to the US.
Part 2
What is the country that you are researching: Haiti
Write a brief summary of the economic system of the country: Identify and explain the type of economic system.
Haiti is classified as a free market economy by the CIA World Factbook. This means Haiti's economy is based off of supply and demand. They also have low labor costs and there is no tariff to recieve exports from the US.
Select three key economic indicators such as poverty rates, labor distribution, use of resources, etc. and analyze what this information says about the country, how does it compare to other countries, change over time, etc.:
Three economic indicators of Haiti can include poverty, susceptiblilty to natural disasters, and a lack of investment. It is estimated that 80% of Haiti's population live under the poverty line. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and many are not educated. In 2010 Haiti suffered a massive earthquake destroying their capital city and economy. In 2012 two hurricanes affected agricultural development as well slowing economic growth. This can be considered detrimental to the 2/5 of Haitians that depend on small scale agricultural farming (most in rural areas). Because Haiti is among one of the poorest nations, electricity is hard to come by. The infrastructure stems from it's lack of investment. As of December 2014, Haiti's debt reached 1.43 billion dollars. It is known that Haiti depends on assistance from other nations (more than half comes from aid sources) to remain as stable as possible.
With the above components in mind, it is hard to envision Haiti ever coming out of debt, especially given their geographical location. Their vulnerability to natural disaster could be considered their biggest challenge.
Identify the GDP - per capita for the country: 8.459 Billion USD