Haiti: Improving the Quality of Education

According to the United Nations, only 12% of Haiti’s already meagre public budget goes to national education and vocational training, which directly affects the quality of teachers. Apart from low salaries, many teachers also lack adequate training.

“The majority of teachers in Haiti don’t have access to the new information technologies, like online research and online training. Generally, they teach without having a basic preparation, so that they can’t offer quality education,” explained Wilfrid St-Felix, the director of the SOS School Les Cayes, in the countryside.

To enhance the quality of the teaching, SOS Children’s Villages Haiti is focused on building teachers’ capacities through teacher training and providing adequate infrastructure, such as school libraries, computer rooms and counselling for children. Additionally, class sizes in SOS schools have been limited to 35 pupils.

“We work alongside children, teachers, staff and parents. They are trained to understand that children are individuals with rights. This assures the self-esteem of the children. They need us to trust them and to accompany them to look for information that allows them to build knowledge. That’s the work we do – developing  children’s capacities,” said Charles Myrtil, director of the SOS School in Santo in Port-au-Prince

Sonto Chena St-Jean also works at the SOS School Santo. After 12 years teaching English, he says his greatest joy is meeting former students who, today, are mechanics, carpenters or electricians. For Mr St-Jean, the recipe for such success is the methodology of teaching.

“Some schools do things in another way. Here, teachers often take seminars; there are a lot of instructions. The children we help raise here are different from many other children from other schools, because of this capacity building,” he said.

Wadler Raymond, the National Coordinator–Education for SOS Children’s Villages Haiti, explained that to improve the quality of the teaching, SOS implemented the “Accelerate Initial Training” for teachers. “We hold training sessions three times a year, and then we supervise the teachers. We keep working with them so that they improve everyday.”

Didley Bien-Aime teaches Social Science and Creole at the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School in Santo. He has been teaching for six years and is still delighted to watch his students succeeding.

“What is most important for me, as a teacher, is to raise the kids’ self-esteem. Especially in Haiti. We have a big problem with kids being raised by uneducated parents. It gets really hard. “

“The most important thing a teacher can do is help those kids grow and adjust to a new reality, take advantage of what they can change, and also learn to protect themselves so they can live with the things they can’t change”, Mr Bien-Aime said.

Canadian's wishing to support SOS Children's Villages are encouraged to sponsor a child, sponsor a village or to make a direct donation. Your support ensures that SOS Children's Villages can continue to provide a safe and loving home to orphan and abandoned children worldwide.