L'éducation confessionnelle en Haïti: Étude de cas par pays, Rapport final

PHOTO CREDIT: FEPH FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY FINAL REPORT This publication was produced for the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by DevTech, Inc., under the LAC Education Support Contract (7200AA18M00024). The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY FINAL REPORT Submitted to Nathaniel Haight, Contracting Officer’s Representative USAID/LAC Submitted and prepared by: DevTech Systems, Inc. Contract GS-10F-0048L/7200AA18M00024 The Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child Institute for Educational Initiatives University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556 Lead Author: Fabiola Lopez-Minatchy Subject: Faith-based education in Latin America and the Caribbean (FE-LAC) Activity Managers: Alexandra Rice and Nathaniel Haight Place of Performance or country focus: Latin America and the Caribbean Period of Performance: June 2022-February 2023 CONTENTS ACRONYMS 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 PURPOSE 7 RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY 7 OBJECTIVES 8 BRIEF METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW 8 KEY STUDY FINDINGS 9 RECOMMENDATIONS 11 INTRODUCTION 13 FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI 13 BRIEF HISTORY 13 POLICY CONTEXT 21 RELIGIOUS DEMOGRAPHY 24 METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW 28 FINDINGS 29 STUDY QUESTION 1: THE ROLE AND CONTRIBUTION OF FAITH-BASED EDUCATION 29 STUDY QUESTION 2: CHALLENGES FACING FAITH-BASED SCHOOLS 39 STUDY QUESTION 3: COMPARING FAITH BASED SCHOOLS TO STATE SCHOOLS 41 STUDY QUESTION 4: PARTNERING WITH FAITH BASED SCHOOLS AND ACTORS 44 RECOMMENDATIONS 47 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 47 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT 47 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DONORS 48 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FAITH-BASED ACTORS 49 SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS LINKED TO SDG 4 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY 51 ANNEXES 52 ANNEX 1: KEY DATASETS 52 ANNEX 2: LIST OF KIIS AND ORGANIZATIONS 54 ANNEXE 3: MINI-CASE STUDIES 55 HAITI MINI-CASE STUDY AND HIGHLIGHTS 1 55 HAITI MINI-CASE STUDY AND HIGHLIGHTS 2 57 HAITI MINI-CASE STUDY AND HIGHLIGHTS 3 59 HAITI MINI-CASE STUDY AND HIGHLIGHTS 4 61 1 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV ACRONYMS BDS Bureaux de district scolaire (School district offices) CEEC Commission Episcopale des Écoles Catholiques CIE Carte d’Identification des écoles (School Identification Card) CFEF Centre de formation pour l’école fondamentale (Basic Education Training Center) CRS Catholic Relief Services DAEPP Direction d’Appui à l’Education Privé et au Partenariat (Directorate for Private Teaching Support and Partnership) DPCE Direction de la Planification et de la Coopération Externe (Planning and External Cooperation Directorate) FEPH Fédération des Ecoles Protestantes d’Haïti (Federation of Protestant Schools in Haiti) FNE Fond National pour l’Education FONHEP Fondation Haïtienne de l’Enseignement Privé (Haitian Foundation for Private Education) IDB Inter-American Development Bank KII Key Informant Interview MENFP Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle (Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training) ONAPE Office National de Partenariat en Haiti USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 2 PRONEI Programme National d’Education Intégrée (Integrated Education National Program) SIGE SIGE (Système d'Information sur la Gestion de l'Education, (System of Information and Management for Education) UDCL Unité de Développement des Compétences en Lecture (Early Grade Reading Development Unit) UND University of Notre Dame (Indiana) USI Unité d’Information et de Statistiques (Statistics and Information Unit) USAID U.S. Agency for International Development 3 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The contributions of faith-based education actors and institutions have been extremely important since the early days of the Haitian nation. With the signing of the Concordat in 1860, the engagement with religious organizations has made it possible to increase the response to an ever-growing demand for education for which the State had neither the human nor financial means to meet. In addition, faith based actors put the emphasis on sub-segments of the Haitian population, and areas of interest that are often overlooked by the public actors. With consideration of a market share approximately reaching 84% for non-state schools (most of which are faith-based at an estimated 43% market share), the service provision and the scope of their delivery is critical for the Haïtian education system. In 1982 there were 2,132 public versus 1,000 non-public schools. In 1996 there were more than 10,413 non-public schools compared to 2,221 public schools. In terms of infrastructure building, between 1979 and 1981, 1,300 private schools were built versus only 158 public schools. In 2014 a census conducted by the Ministry of Education counted approximately 18,639 total of schools in the country1, and among these 15,721 are considered non-public (84%), and 6,787 are faith-based schools (43%). This number accounts for both Catholic and Protestant schools. 136 of these 6,787 faith-based schools are listed as public. Therefore, it’s key to underscore the following points: • Faith-based institutions and actors contribute to a large degree to increasing access to education in all the departments in Haiti. Although the majority are concentrated in four departments (Ouest, Artibonite, Center, North), they provide educational services in all of the ten departments of the country. • Although faith-based institutions and actors contribute to the public sector, the vast majority of faith-based schools are in the non-public sector where they represent almost half of the market share. • Public schools are completely outnumbered by non-public schools in every department of Haiti. Some departments are considerably underserved with a lower number of schools (both public and private) like the North-East and Grande-Anse. • Data shows that among the non-public sector and faith-based schools, the majority of schools are Protestant. In the past 50 years, the Haitian education sector has shifted from predominantly public national schools to predominantly non-public/private and faith-based schools. While the number of non-public schools infrastructures was higher, data suggest that until 2012 student enrollment was higher in public schools. Even with less infrastructure the public sector welcomed more students than the non-public sector. This was due to the provision of more classes per grade-level and overcrowded classrooms. It is important to stress that the lack of verified data is a dire concern in Haiti. Therefore, obtaining recent and reliable data has been a challenge. The data reported in this document originates from official datasets obtained by official sources at the Haitian Ministry of Education (MENFP), and also NGO partners or bibliographical sources from donor partners’ reports. 1 The general numbers provided by the Ministry of Education are to be used with extreme caution, because the datasets revealed a high risk of double counting. The Ministry’s DAEPP is working on curating what they called “dataset zero”. And from the 18,639 count of total schools it’s estimated that approximately 2,000 schools might be counted twice. In addition, there is an important gap in the count of Catholic schools. The official numbers from the Ministry present 1,564 Catholic schools with 404,634 students, while the 2012 census conducted by CEEC, CRS and UND are presenting a count of 2,315 schools and 602,149 students (CEEC/CRS/UND, June 2012). Résultats de l’enquête sur les écoles catholiques en Haïti, Rapport Final. USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 4 Key takeaways Among the 6,787 faith-based schools nationally, less than half are officially holders of a school license from state authorities. Only 3,254 faith-based schools are licensed by the MENFP/DAEPP.2 This challenge of governance has been described frequently in accounts of the Haitian education system, which often note that the State does not have the capacity to effectively regulate and oversee the activities of the non-public sector. The number of Catholic schools is 2,3153 of which the majority are presbyteral (parish sponsored) schools (878). The number of Protestant schools is 5,223, with a higher number of mission-sponsored schools (2,765). Given that one of the identified challenges of the Haitian system is the low internal efficacy, it is important to acknowledge that only 40% of the schools nationwide participate in the official national exams. Only 40% of the schools present students to the 9th grade exam at the end of Fundamental school, and only 18% of the schools present students to the Baccalaureate, which is the end of senior high school exam.4 The student enrollment number in Catholic schools is 602,149 students based on the CEEC/CRS/UND report. For Protestants, the number of students reaches 1,045,718 based on MENFP data. Over the past decade, faith-based institutions gained significant experience working on donor partners projects (USAID, UNICEF, World Bank, etc.) and with various implementing partners (RTI International, FHI360, AIR, etc.). This has resulted in the development of critical technical knowledge and local capacity development for example in: • early childhood education • early grade reading materials development and deployment in classrooms • reading assessments (EGRA) • basic skills acquisition in early grades 2 Until 2014, schools had to receive an authorization from the MENFP/DAEPP. With Minister Manigat’s 12 Measures, from 2014 on, schools had to also obtain their identification card (Carte d’Indentification des Ecoles, CIE) 3 Based on the CEEC, CRS and UND report, the count of Catholic schools and enrolled students in these schools is considerably higher. Given the level of trust on the quality of the data collection of the CRS/UND census, the figures from this specific report are used rather than the MENFP census. However, since a similar census is not available for the Protestant schools, the data from the MENFP is used as a reference (CEEC/CRS/UND, June 2012, Résultats de l’enquête sur les écoles catholiques en Haïti, Rapport Final). 4 Data from MENFP/BUNEXE for officials exams during the 2021/2022 school year. 5 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV However, while they have developed this important past experience, these institutions are rarely the direct recipients of donor funds. Further analysis could be done in order to better understand how they could be more directly in charge of project implementation. After the analysis of the data collected, two general recommendations can be made: Recommendation 1: Focus on underserved rural areas Recommendation 2: Focus on school accreditation and teacher certification From these recommendations emerge opportunities to improve the quality of the system both at the school and the classroom level, and to improve learning outcomes by ensuring that teachers hold basic subject matter content-knowledge. From these recommendations there is also the potential to reverse the trends related to rural migration and urbanization with all the problems deriving from them (WASH, sanitation, homelessness, unemployment and social distress, violence and crime, etc.). Focusing on underserved rural areas leads to “make the rural environment a bud of Haiti’s renewal” (FBS leader). Note on data limitations One key limitation of research work in Haiti is the availability of reliable and up-to-date data. Despite the attempts to fully implement the SIGE (Education Information and Management System), the Ministry of Education (MENFP) has struggled to collect regular and accurate data and most of the information collected relies on a census made 8 to 10 years ago. These numbers do not necessarily reflect the current situation, and, therefore, are very poor tools in the orientation of decision-making.5 In addition, the disaggregation is not necessarily available for the faith-based subcategories. Another strong point is that an important gap exists between the data reported by the MENFP for the Catholic schools and the data reported in the last report on the census conducted in 2012. While a similar census doesn’t exist for the Protestant networks, and the data might seem old, the numbers from the Catholic dataset seem to be a reliable source of information and they will be highlighted as a mean to provide a wider range of the number of schools and enrollment rates that might be closer to the reality on the field. 5 The general numbers obtained from the 2014 national census are used with extreme caution, because some datasets revealed a high risk of double counting. In this report, the data referred to are mostly based on the officially registered schools, but not the existing schools that are not registered in the official database. It is understood that these numbers are lower than the reality on the field. USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 6 Faith-Based-Education Data summary PURPOSE The purpose of this country case study is to research the role of faith-based actors in education development in Haiti as part of a broader study of faith-based education in the LAC region. The goal for this research is to produce an overview of the role, contributions, challenges, and opportunities of faith based education in Haiti and to inform future education programs and policies. The regional study placed a particular focus on services for marginalized and vulnerable children and youth in the LAC region over the past 30 years. RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY The school system of the Republic of Haiti is deeply related to faith-based institutions and structures, where state prerogatives are intertwined with religious implementers. Faith-based educational institutions have a long history implementing and contributing to education outcomes in Haiti, pre and post-colonial times. Therefore, it is critical to understand the historical roots of faith-based education in a context where more than two centuries after the creation of the Haitian nation, the picture of the 7 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV education system still reflects historical arrangements, official agreements, and ad-hoc adaptation to the evolving social context. This report will attempt to shed light on the history of faith-based schools in Haiti, to better document the contributions of these actors, and to understand their potential role in advancing development aims related to quality education for all. This study sought to reach a diversity sample across multiple faith traditions, areas of the education sector, and type of organizations. Document analysis and key informant interviews (KII) were conducted to explore the context of faith based education in Haiti from an inclusive perspective. The contributions of Voodouists, Muslims, and Baha’i faith, were considered, however, due to the extremely volatile context during the time of the data collection, we were unable to reach as many informants as hoped. The multiple constraints due to the unstable socio-political context between May and November 2022 limited the reach to the two main religious groups in terms of demographic composition: Catholic and Protestant. The attention to this topic is of particular importance in the context of a looming crisis in which the public sector has been significantly weakened. The support and promotion of quality education for all is not only a state affair but demands the support of all involved: public, non-public, faith-based and independent partners hold a major role in shifting the education system and supporting a more stable, peaceful, equitable and prosperous Haiti. OBJECTIVES This country case study aims at: 1. informing USAID’s strategy, activity design, and implementation on faith-based education in Haiti. 2. contributing to the global knowledge of faith-based education programming and advancing the evidence base for the USAID Education Learning Agenda. The data collected for this study are compiled so as to equitably reflect the key stakeholder groups within the system and cases highlighted here serve as illustrative examples of successful initiatives, inspiring attempts, and/or groundbreaking work that hold strong potential for future programing. BRIEF METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW This study is based on a synthesis of available literature, secondary data, and key informant interviews. The work undertaken will help to increase the understanding of the scope and market-share of faith based school networks in the country. Key informant interviews have been conducted: 1) to assist in identifying secondary datasets, 2) to assist in identifying relevant documents, 3) to understand the role, contributions, challenges, distinctiveness, and opportunities for engagement of faith-based educational actors, and 4) to identify and collect data about illustrative mini-cases. The sample of mini-case studies selected reflects initiatives undertaken in school communities, disadvantaged and/or violence-prone neighborhoods, and can serve to inspire activity design in Haiti. In the approach followed for this study, faith-based actors and institutions are defined as non-state entities with a direct or indirect religious sponsorship or affiliation. This can include local faith communities (LFC) (e.g. churches, temples, mosques), church-sponsored or religious entity-sponsored schools or networks of schools (e.g. a school sponsored by an LFC or another religious group), international or local NGOs with a direct or indirect religious affiliation and identity (e.g. World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, Caritas, Compassion International), and religiously sponsored higher education institutions (e.g. Université Episcopale d’Haiti, Université de Notre-Dame d’Haiti, Lumière University MEBSH, etc.). Education will be considered as including early childhood education and development, preprimary, fundamental schools (corresponding to three cycles covering primary to junior high USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 8 schools), secondary schools (corresponding to senior high schools), youth engagement, and child protection. Higher education institutions are given minor consideration as this is not the primary focus of this study. An important note for Haiti is to consider that some of the national schools are administered by faith-based congregations, therefore, datasets of public schools sometimes require a more refined disaggregation. KEY STUDY FINDINGS 1. What is the role and contributions of faith-based education actors and institutions in providing education services, especially for marginalized and vulnerable children and youth (e.g. those experiencing extreme poverty, affected by irregular migration, affected by violence, girls and boys, those with disabilities, ethnic and linguistic minorities, rural and urban, etc.)? Key Findings ● Faith-based institutions play a critical role in providing access to education services in Haiti. They represent approximately 43% of the market share and they are ensuring services that the Haitian government is not able to provide due to lack of financial means and personnel. ● Faith-based institutions are reaching populations in rural and remote areas where the public offers are scarce. ● Faith-based actors are responding to a need to support marginalized and vulnerable children and youth in rural, urban, or peri-urban areas that are underserved or face extreme poverty and/or violence. ● Faith-based actors are providing technical expertise in the sector by supporting the government in the development of policies and instructional content/materials. ● Faith-based actors are supporting segments of the population often ignored by the Haitian government such as overaged and out-of-school children and youth, children in domestic service, vulnerable young girls, children with disabilities, etc. ● Faith-based actors play an important role in the reduction of illiteracy and improvement of adult literacy through afternoon or Sunday classes for adults. 2. What are the challenges faith-based schools face in regards to achieving education outcomes, especially in communities affected by insecurity, poverty, and migration? Key Findings ● Faith-based institutions face an increased difficulty to financially sustain education services in schools and communities. High inflation and the increase of violence and insecurity makes it more challenging to safely and cost-effectively reach beneficiaries and operate schools. ● Faith-based actors do not feel that they have a sustained dialogue with the Haitian government and have a limited advocacy role and little weight on education policy decisions despite their large market share. ● Faith-based organizations lack means for self-generated revenues to ensure sustainable activities and personnel, and rely mostly on external funds, members fees, and school fees which are not sufficient to meet their needs and support long term development aims. ● General challenges faced by faith-based schools ■ Limited funds 9 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV ■ Limited capacity to auto-generate revenues ■ Socio-political instability ■ Unsustained political dialogue and political will ■ Negative perception of the role of faith-based institutions perceived as “competitors” by the State ■ Lack of institutional/political power of faith-based institutions ■ Migration (in particular in Eastern region bordering the Dominican Republic) ● Challenges facing faith-based schools to achieve desired educational outcomes ■ The absence of quality standards for teaching and learning creates high disparities and low educational outcomes ■ The limited educational offer concentrates on Fundamental and Secondary schooling, and less so on preschool, higher education and vocational training ■ The cost of school enrollment does not always allow inclusive and equitable education. ■ There is limited availability of qualified teachers and limited funds to pay them, ■ There is limited access to water and electricity, two basic conditions needed to carry out education services with minimal quality standards ■ Schools are unable to guarantee school feeding for all students ■ There is limited instructional time (disruptions in school days due to political instability or ineffective organization of instructional time) ■ There is limited infrastructure to respond to the needs of students with disabilities ■ There is limited capacity to provide training in innovative technologies to be responsive to global trends and innovations (due to lack of trained teachers, electricity shortages, unavailable materials, etc.) ■ There is limited content available for Global Citizenship Education, Risk Prevention and Natural Disaster Response ● Specific challenges facing faith-based schools in efforts to serve marginalized communities ■ Insecurity and violence ■ Poverty ■ Socio-political instability ■ Limited funds and limited access to development opportunities ■ Inflation and increased cost of fuels and basic supplies 3. How do faith-based schools compare to state-run schools in terms of resources (and sources), accessibility (urban/rural), safety, parental and community engagement, perceived advantages and disadvantages, quality and learning outcomes, especially for marginalized and vulnerable populations, adaptability to shocks (e.g. COVID, violence, migration), and curricular differences? Key Findings ● Faith-based schools and state-run schools are both more prevalent in urban areas. However, only faith-based schools reach higher numbers of schools in rural and/or remote areas. The presence of schools in rural and/or remote areas is primarily ensured by faith-based institutions. ● Funding of faith-based schools comes from a combination of public funding (state run non-public schools, and other subsidies for non-state run schools such as USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 10 national education funds6, school feeding credits, etc.), school fees paid by parents, and sometimes support from churches and missions. Diverse sources of fundings are available but they come with no regularity, which inhibits the school networks’ ability to effectively manage financial planning. ● Faith-based schools are reported to have more parental and community engagement than state-run schools. In the building of social capital and enabling civic participation, faith-based schools offer more space for engagement, in particular through school committees (Conseils d’école). These committees are local governance structures that also familiarize beneficiaries with the experience of democratic values and norms (regular elections, voting, building common projects for the benefit of the community, etc.). ● Teacher attendance and local accountability is reported to be higher in faith-based schools than in state-run schools. The supervision of school directors, and the presence of regional supervision structures (for the Catholic schools with the Diocesan Bureaus in each department) tends to foster higher levels of monitoring and accountability in non-public and faith-based schools. 4. What are the effective ways and opportunities for donors and the public education sector to engage religious communities and partner with faith-based organizations to leverage/improve education outcomes? Key Findings ● Catholic and Protestant schools networks are united under an umbrella organization representing the non-public sector: FONHEP (Haitian Foundation for Private Education, Fondation Haïtienne pour l’Enseignement Privé). The different networks are already united under this organization, however, FONHEP - initially a USAID funded project - has suffered from loss of personnel due to financial constraints and the local insecurity and instability in the context. ● Public-private partnerships between the government and faith-based networks for conducting school supervision and school monitoring tasks is a possible strategy for improving quality standards and accountability in the system. Establishing standards and delegating tasks that the MENFP struggles to manage independently represents a strategic option that could complement and extend state services. ● Donor partner grants and contracts for faith-based institutions come with a lot of institutional burden. Managing funds from donor partners can be time-consuming and even result in institutions losing money. An option is to launch a mechanism of awards/prizes to reward innovative initiatives that can be scaled up with a reduced bureaucratic burden. ● Faith-based organizations need capacity building in development, advocacy and outreach to better serve the education sector. Based on the different analyses and key findings, a series of recommendations has been made at 3 levels: for the government, for donors, and for faith-based actors. In addition, a complementary list is provided in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), under SDG 4: Sustainable Education which “aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” 6FNE: Fond National pour l’Education 11 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV General recommendations Recommendation 1: Focus on underserved rural areas Recommendation 2: Focus on school accreditation and teacher certification Recommendations for government Recommendation 3: Focus on collaborating with faith-based schools to regulate the sector Recommendation 4: Increase exchange opportunities with faith-based networks for improved policy dialogue Recommendation 5: Collaborate with faith-based networks for improved instructional content Recommendations for donors Recommendation 6: Promote regional approaches and value community education Recommendation 7: Consider supporting existing initiatives Recommendation 8: Consider increasing localization and local capacity strengthening by supporting established local networks Recommendation 9: Value the Haitian cooperative model (“Konbit”) Recommendation 10: Envision “prizes” or “awards” with minimal institutional constraints Recommendations for faith-based actors Recommendation 11: Develop a coordinated strategy at the national level Recommendation 12: Create a development office in charge of looking for funding and reaching outside the scope of usual bilateral donors Recommendation 13: Develop vocational education options and envision partnerships with the private sector Recommendation 14: Unite to advocate for cross-cutting issues and leverage higher amounts of money Recommendation 15: Develop a range of incentives at different stages of teachers’ careers Recommendation 16: Increase access to books and resources Specific recommendations linked to SDG 4 Recommendation 17: Fund a faith-based education research or census Recommendation 18: Support the MENFP’s curricular efforts (including for distance learning) and develop free content focused on work-specific and transferable skills USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 12 INTRODUCTION FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI Since colonial times, religious actors have been an integral part of education in Haiti. After independence, facing the lack of infrastructure and trained personnel, the Concordat of 1860 was an agreement between the Catholic Church -the Vatican- and the Haitian government. The Concordat recognized the new Haitian republic and provided a privileged role for Catholic schools within the education system, including state funding of Catholic schools. This political action of the new nation was a way to both address a sectoral need and to gain acceptance by the international community. The recognition of the Haitian nation was a major issue during the first decades of its existence, this helps to understand the importance of adopting and sharing the same values as the Western world and the place given to Christianity. Due to the lack of resources, teachers and materials were often imported. The lack of national human resources explains some political decisions. For example, the choice to switch to the Lancastrian model was a strategic move to step away from the French system but also a way to address these challenges in a simple and rapid manner. Indeed, given the lack of qualified teachers, having more students per teacher seemed to be a solution for the governments of the time. Over the years, the lack of infrastructure, trained teachers, and available appropriate, student-friendly and culturally-friendly materials are systemic challenges that have never been addressed in a sustainable way. The government’s inability to take strong and consistent steps in the direction of free quality education for all explains in part how the non-public sector has progressively expanded and surpassed the market share of the public sector. Between 1843 and 1930 the Haitian education sector had over 64 ministers. This partly explains the State’s inability to sustain education policies, initiatives and reforms. Establishing a clear typology of schools in Haiti is an extremely arduous task. The school system in Haiti is complex because -as a result of the Concordat- some public schools are managed and administered by Catholic congregational entities. Therefore, the data received for public schools does not accurately depict the proportion of the faith-based entities. There is a quantity of national/public schools that are not counted as faith-based while their administration and the way they are functioning is typical of religious schools of the non-public sector. After a brief presentation of the Haitian history and policy context, key findings and recommendations stemming from the grey literature and KIIs will be presented, and a series of success stories will be highlighted as mini-cases in the country context. BRIEF HISTORY FAITH-BASED EDUCATION DURING COLONIAL TIMES (1492-1804) The island of Haiti was coveted by the big European nations following the arrival of Christopher Colombus on the Northeast coast, at the Morne St Nicolas. The history of the school system stems from the colonial epoch where the education of the slaves was linked to the mastery of specific abilities and a very general religious education as a result of the will to Christianize the African workforce. The Black Code specified that slave masters must ensure the catechetical education of slaves and preparation to receive Sacraments. Historians describe the education practices at the time primarily as oriented towards religious conversion, the eradication of belief in autochthonous cults, and the inculcation of the foundations of Catholicism. 13 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV From historical references, it appears that the schools in the colonial era served mainly two categories of people: freed slaves and colonists. These schools were based on French instruction in basic literacy skills, literature, science, astronomy, general culture, and philosophy.7 In this configuration, education was related to two distinct currents: -the indoctrination of the masses of slaves focused on Christianization (religious instruction) and workforce development for the plantations (instruction in specific abilities related to key needs: wood work, iron work, agricultural work, house work, etc.). -professional training for freedmen (veterinarians, nurses, masons, musicians, dancers, artists etc.) considered more socially valued skills for the purpose of managing the plantations and entertaining the masters. Slave masters and certain freedmen received more formal education based on European standards, however, this was available to few people within the colony. The legal establishment of the provision of education can be traced through Haiti’s constitutional law. Haiti has had 29 constitutions and other amendments since independence. The first constitution was initiated at the time of the Haitian anti-slavery revolution of 1801 under the leadership of General Toussaint Louverture, general of the army of Saint-Domingue, and transmitted to general Napoleon Bonaparte, head of the French nation. Among the 77 articles of this first constitution was an article focused on education, which is considered to be at the very inception of the Haitian education sector. It states: "Every person has the right to form special educational and instruction institutions for young people under the authorization and supervision of municipal administrations." Experts analyze this article as the foundation of the open door to widespread non-public education. But it mostly represents the very core of the first precept of the right of education for all –regardless of ethnicity, social origins, place of residence, etc. Indeed, this was revolutionary at the time, in particular, as it stood in opposition to the dehumanization of slavery. Most importantly, it recognized the inalienable right of education for all. And the fact that it placed education under the regulation of the State (municipalities) shows an attempt to install the foundation of state governance. While the door was left open to all to allow increased access to education, it established regulations and a state-led orientation. In summary, as per the guidelines of the Black Code, during colonial times, education consisted of faith based instruction related to mass Christianization and workforce development on the one side, and the education of elites on the other side. During the transition years of the Haitian revolution, General Louverture’s Constitution established the right to education for all under the regulation of the State. 7 Brutus E. (1948). Instruction publique en Haiti : 1492-1945. Imprimerie de l’Etat, Port-au-Prince. USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 14 FAITH-BASED EDUCATION DURING POST-COLONIAL TIMES (1804-1934) Over two centuries it is striking to see that Haiti had 29 constitutions, and by going through the multiple texts, two common themes emerge: the idea of free education and the compulsory nature of education. Since the revolutionary constitution of Toussaint Louverture, these principles are well-established in the texts; however, these declarations of intent often failed to concretize in practice. After Haiti’s declaration of independence in 1804, the country’s first official Constitution was initiated under Jean Jacques Dessalines in 1805. The priority of the freed slaves at the time was the defense of the territory of the young Haitian nation, which was not recognized by the international community.8 In this constitution of 53 articles only two deal with education.9 The article 19 establishing that each military district shall have a public school for the instruction of young people10 and article 40 putting education under the responsibility of the Minister of Finance and the Interior. It appears that education was mostly 8 Despite the help of the revolutionaries of Haiti in the fighting of 1774-1775 for the independence of the United States in 1776, the US refused to recognize the independence of Haiti. Official relations only began in 1862 under the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Delima P., (2014). Constitutions, lois et éducation en Haïti 1801-2018 – Eléments de politiques éducatives. Editions Mémoire, Québec, Canada. 9 Delima P., (2014). Constitutions, lois et éducation en Haïti 1801-2018 – Eléments de politiques éducatives. Editions Mémoire, Québec, Canada. 10 Education was dedicated to the military forces in the 6 military districts of the Haitian territory. The 6 military districts were: St Marc, Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Port-de-Paix, Anse-à-Veau, and Cayes. 15 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV limited to urban areas and provided for the military elites, and was not available for the mass of field workers and rural inhabitants. In the first constitution of the emerging Haitian nation, the educational policy of Toussaint favored freedom of education and made the Roman Catholic religion compulsory. The close link between education and religion was replicated from the prevailing models from Europe and the Western world, and served as a basis for promoting Haiti’s acceptance by foreign powers. The following Haitian constitution of Henri Christophe11 in 1806 (for the North), was composed of 200 articles, though none focused on education. However, Christophe had a very clear idea of what Haitian education should look like. In his inaugural speech, Christophe established education as a priority for the liberation of people during the post-colonial period, and for raising the masses against the ignorance and degradation of slavery. One of Christophe's first decisions was the break with the French education system of the former colony, and fostering greater alignment with the British model. He established an education system based on the British Lancasterian model. The language of communication ceased to be French, and English became not only the official language, but also the language of instruction. In addition, schooling was compulsory and the law punished any parent who did not send his child to school. The educational policy of Henri Christophe, in his attempt to generalize education by Lancasterian methods, also brought a commitment to mass education12 that broke with the elitist tradition of the great European nations of the time. Christophe was a visionary who broke with the French system, and tried to respond to critical educational needs. Acknowledging the gap between demand and offer, he also called on qualified foreigners to respond to the lack of trained local teachers. While Christophe’s policy promoted openness in the Northern part of Haiti, Pétion’s educational policy for the West and the South remained mostly focused on the military and urban elites. One key aspect of Pétion’s constitution of 1816 was, however, the promotion of free and equal access to education. In addition, Education was under the responsibility of the State, where the contents and programs were defined by the government. The prerogative to educate Haitians was not transferred to foreign institutions or religious entities. 11 After the assassination of Dessalines, the Haitian territory was divided between Henri Christophe who reigned over the Northern part, and Alexandre Pétion who reigned on the West and South of Haiti. 12 What is now known as plethoric classroom in Haiti is the result of these Lancastrian practices. It’s important to note that at the time in Europe, the mass education wasn’t yet widespread which confirms Christophe as a trailblazer. USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 16 After the death of Pétion and Christophe, Boyer reunited the North and the South of Haiti and annexed the current Dominican Republic. In the era of expansion the education sector remained marked by elitism. The University of Santo Domingo, founded in 1538, was closed. Additional Lancastrian schools were opened, including two in the Dominican Republic, and instruction was mostly done in French. One important milestone was achieved in girls’ education with the creation of special schools for young girls in 1819. Today this might appear as a sign of segregation or lack of inclusiveness, but considering the historical context, this was cutting edge. In 1860, the bilateral agreement known as the “Concordat” was signed between the recently independent Haitian Republic and the Vatican. This decision met strategic and political needs, on the one side, and addressed sectoral needs, on the other. Indeed, the young republic was unable to respond to the education needs of a mass of former slaves without basic instruction and a series of challenges were yet to be solved, including the lack of school infrastructure, the lack of trained teachers, the lack of funding for education,13 and the lack of adapted materials in the mother-tongue.14 In order to respond to the first two challenges, to align with the mainstream western culture, and to finally be officially recognized by the occidental nations, the choice of the Haitian government to partner with the Catholic Church was strategic. It was also prudent in terms of educational aims, as the Concordat sought to engage Catholic religious institutions in support of the government’s efforts to meet its constitutional obligation to provide free compulsory education services to all. From 1843 to 1915, the education sector had 54 ministers or secretaries of state. Then between 1921 and 1930, in less than 10 years, what became the Ministry of Public Instruction had no less than 10 ministers. This instability and lack of continuity in reform and policy direction has been a major problem in the history of Haiti. 13 At the time, most of the nation’s fundings were allocated to protecting the Haitian territory for potential attempts by the French to reconquer the land. In addition, after the agreement with France to pay the “Independence Debt”, a very high percentage of the national revenues were reversed to the former occupant. 14 Most of the former slaves were not French speakers. After the decimation of the Natives, replaced by the Africans, Creole became the mother tongue. Haitian Creole became the widespread native language of the inhabitants of the republic. French remained predominant for official and diplomatic communications. Therefore, this dual linguistic approach is long established. 17 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV During the American Occupation from 1915 to 1934, public instruction was neutralized and under guardianship, and the Americans sought to remake the Haitian system to mirror the American model. There was a strong will to separate church and state as an echo to the First Amendment of the American Bill of Rights, denying public funds to religious schools. Given the need for a better skilled workforce, a major focus was placed on investments in vocational and technical training based on the American system of vocational education. Vocational schools thus emerged as a new social instrument capable of educating a new class of skilled workers, and scholarships were given to Haitian students to study in the US. RECENT SHIFTS (1934-TO PRESENT) The American occupation enabled the emergence of a new layer of elite from among the ranks of black and popular Haitians. After the U.S. occupation the Haitian education sector embarked on a phase of massification with increased schooling of students of rural and popular origin. USAID.GOV FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT | 18 When the Americans left, Haitian leaders tried to reform the traditional education system. But the reforms are generally regarded as reinforcing the urban/rural duality.15 For example, the opening of farm-schools and rural schools is an initiative to respond to the specific needs of peasants in the rural areas, and these schools depended on the Ministry of Agriculture, not on the Ministry of Education. During the 1960’s, there was strong population growth. In addition, there was a mass exodus of rural populations to urban areas in search of economic opportunity, improved quality of life, better access to health care, and educational opportunity. The introduction of instruction in two shifts, in morning and afternoon, was introduced to address the growing urban population and educational demand. Four important events represent shifts in the way the Haitian sector evolved in the 5 past decades until the present: 1. The 1979 reform: led by Minister Bernard under the presidency of Jean-Claude Duvalier, remains a critical text for the sector until today. The educational context that led to this reform is based on the will to increase access and to expand the foundational knowledge by creating a common core of skills for all Haitians in 9 “fundamental” school years. The former division pre-school, primary, secondary, and high school, seemed outdated. The new model sought to create a foundation in fundamentals that went beyond primary school and opened perspectives to the first years of secondary school, while giving options to alternative vocational routes. This reform also represents an attempt to address the challenge of bilingualism. The language of instruction became Haitian Creole at the beginning of schooling and French was to be introduced orally, with an eventual transition to French as the language of instruction. Lastly, the reform attempted to structure professional training and created vocational centers to break with the elitist policy of traditional secondary schools as the only option. The intent was to allow a parallel option while meeting the demand for skilled workers. 2. The GTEF (Groupe de Travail en Éducation et Formation) created in 2008: is a cross-sectoral working group which led to the development of the MENFP’s Operational Plan 2010-2015. It can be considered as the first strategic and management document of its kind. Indeed, given the high turnover rate among ministers, having a five year operational plan was an important step towards a more consistent sectoral approach. One of the key challenges was the alignment between donor partners’ agendas and the government’s plans, and the financing of the different sub 15 Delima P., (2014). Constitutions, lois et éducation en Haïti 1801-2018 – Eléments de politiques éducatives. Editions Mémoire, Québec, Canada. 19 | FAITH-BASED EDUCATION IN HAITI: COUNTRY CASE STUDY, FINAL REPORT USAID.GOV sectors. For example, most bilateral partners are mobilized in early grade education. Few partners were interested in secondary or superior education, and even less in vocational training. This resulted in high difficulty for financing some subsectors and maintaining reform efforts remains a challenge. 3. The 2010 earthquake: Haiti is located in a geographic area prone to high natural risks (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.). In January 2010 the country was hit by an earthquake of 7 on the Richter scale, which killed over 300,000 people and caused massive destruction, including the loss of about 4,200 schools. This led to a major crisis due to the difficulty to channel and structure international aid. Until 2017, seven years after the earthquake, numerous schools were still in temporary shelters despite the interventions of the donor partners. 4.