We have just begun our 3rd school year here in Haiti, and we’ve learned a lot about the educational system in this time.
After meeting basic needs, our biggest focus at the JRF is to provide children with a quality education. A lot of energy goes into this – registering children in schools, paying fees and materials, regularly meeting with the school directors and parents, and offering classes in the afternoon to make sure our students don’t fall behind. We operate according to school schedules and try our best to fill in knowledge gaps that the schools don’t address.
Students Nojaski, Chichi, Magi, and Andresito upon arriving home from school.
Here are some facts about education in Haiti in order to give you a better understanding of what the JRF and our families are facing:
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The government offers “universal free education,” Haitian families still have to pay for books, materials, and uniforms, for a poor Haitian this amounts to 3-5 weeks of pay per child.
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More than 85% of schools are privately run. Tuitions range from 60-500 USD per year, they also have to buy uniforms and materials.
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GDP per capita is $1800 USD/year, compared to $14,000 GDP average for developing Latino/Caribbean countries and over 2/3 of labor force do not have formal jobs (US AID, CIA World Factbook)
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The average Haitian, age 25+ years, has only had 5 years of education
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75% of children at the end of first grade and nearly half of students finishing second grade cannot read a single word
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61% adult literacy rate (defined as 15 years and older)
Students show off school books that were provided by the JRF. Each student who passed and returned their books from last year were provided with a new set of books for the year.
To sum this all up, Haitians, most of whom live in poverty, typically pay nearly 15% of their yearly income PER CHILD so that they can get a primary and secondary education, which is generally of poor quality. The above fees do not include transport to school, paying for exams, and other various fees throughout the year.
The school our children attend is considered one of the best schools in Jacmel, it is run by the Catholic church and attended by mostly middle to upper middle class Haitians.
This year, with our new points system, many children were able to save up their earned points to buy a book bag and school shoes, saving the parents another cost. Students 4th grade and older attend afternoon tutoring at their school, while 3rd grade and younger take classes at the JRF. We spend 60% of our budget on education, which includes breakfast, tuition, tutoring, materials for JRF classes, extracurricular and teachers’ salaries. .
Its also worth noting that our people are doing significantly better than the average Haitian. Their income puts them in the middle class range and our assistance with their children’s school and affordable rent are massive burdens lifted off of their shoulders.
Siblings, Garry, Angena, and Isline
The school, Kay Mere, where most of our students attend, asked us for help this year in paying tuition of some hard-working students whose parents were not able to pay. With the school’s help vetting, we have created a scholarship program for students in need that can keep their grades above a 70% average. Part of the conditions of the scholarship are that the student gives five hours of service per month at the JRF. So far, this service has been tutoring our young children while they are doing homework in the library. It has been wonderful to watch the peer to peer assistance, and we are excited to be expanding our services and look forward to helping more students as our budget permits.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We couldn’t be doing this work without you.
