Objective

The education sector in Haiti is characterized by weak state capacity to provide education services. With an adult literacy rate of 52% and a primary school enrollment rate of 65%, education remains a key obstacle to economic and social advancement in Haiti . Less than 30% of the children who enter primary school will reach 6 th grade. Nearly 90% of the 12,000 Haitian primary schools are run by the private sector, including schools managed by religious organizations, NGOs, and communities. A small percentage of schools receive subsidies from the government for teacher's salaries. Inadequate coordination between the public and private education sectors hampers progress. A large percentage of sector financing, approximately 15% of the parents' income per child, comes from the families of the students themselves which is strong evidence of the high social demand for schooling in Haiti . Haitian parents place a great deal of faith on schooling as a means to improve their lives.

USAID/Haiti education programs focus on improving the quality of primary education, promoting parental involvement in local schools, and strengthening the institutional capacities of Haitian non-governmental organizations active in the sector. Activities aim to improve local school-support organizations, reduce grade repetition, and enhance learning. In 2003-04, USAID/Haiti is financing a community schools program in the Central Plateau and the Artibonite, implemented by Save the Children/USA; a school cluster program in the North and West departments, implemented by the Fondation Haïtienne de l'Enseignement Privé (FONHEP); and an interactive radio instruction program for primary schools in the West, South, Center and Grand'Anse, implemented by the Education Development Center (EDC).

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Activities

The principal education activity is a limited continuation of a highly successful cluster school program that ended in 2002. The activity, led by FONHEP, reaches 150 schools in the West and North departments. This year USAID is financing EDC to extend the activity to 220 other schools by providing funds to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the South and Grand'Anse; to University of Quisqueya (UNIQ) and Association des Paysans de Vallue (APV) in the West; and to Save the Children/USA in the Central Plateau and in the Artibonite. FONHEP and EDC together will serve a total of 370 schools. The activities are the following:

•  Continue the development of school clusters as an approach to improve school management, foster teamwork among teachers, and encourage parental participation in the school community through teacher, school director, and parent committee training.

•  Provide training, textbooks, radios and other teaching tools, and support the implementation of interactive radio instruction for 2nd , 3rd , and 4th grade students in math and Creole reading for primary schools.

•  Field test an interactive radio instruction program in life skills education for 5th grade students.

•  Support efforts to create community-owned and managed schools in the commune of Maissade (Central Plateau) and in the commune of Marchand-Dessalines (Artibonite). These efforts include community-led school rehabilitation, the training of locally recruited teachers and school directors, training for school management committees in fundraising, administration, and small project development.

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FY 2004 Results

•  The program reached over 50,000 students, and promotion rates were consistent with those of the former education activity, and surpassed the national average of 70%. For example, the promotion rate from grade three to four increased from 57% in 2003 to 72% in 2004. The dropout rate in the community schools project dropped from 24% in FY2002 to 1% FY2004. The number of school improvement activities led by school management committees, in the Save the Children intervention zone, increased from 10 in FY2002 to 25 in FY2004.

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