Literacy and Basic Education for Haiti's Most Disadvantaged Children

It is almost impossible to get a good education in Haiti. For the poorest children it is very difficult to get any education at all. Of the world’s 104 poorest countries surveyed by Oxfam International in 1998, only three countries ranked lower than Haiti for the availability of basic education. Only about half of Haiti’s children ever attend school. Most who do never graduate from primary school; and only 38 of every thousand students complete high school.

Although education is technically compulsory, public schools are few and far between and terribly overcrowded, sometimes with over a hundred students in a single class. As a result, about 80% of all students attend private schools. Poor families will go without food or other necessities to pay tuition for a child to attend a school that is also often overcrowded and where the quality of education is usually quite poor. Still, the tuition and fees these schools charge put them out of reach for poorer families.

The children least likely to receive any education are those who have been sent away by their families to work as domestic servants in the homes of Haitian families that are somewhat better off. These children--called restavèks or stay with's--are often abused, neglected, and worked mercilessly. The families who exploit these children rarely give thought to their schooling. Although the treatment of restavèk children varies, many live in virtual slavery.

Literacy centers provide some of Haiti's poorest children with hope and a basic education. photo: David Diggs

Through our Child Literacy Program, Beyond Borders provides some of Haiti's most vulnerable children with a solid basic education that is designed to help them improve their own lives and the life of their communities.

Many of these children are restavèk children. Local leaders convince the families that use these children to give them a few hours away from their work each day so that they can participate in the program. Beyond Borders provides a special intensive four-year literacy program for these children.

Other students come from the poorest rural families and would not be able to attend school without our help. These poor rural children are considered at risk for being sent into servitude because they have passed the age at which they could be enrolled in a regular school.

For many restavèk children, the literacy center provides their only time for play or for making friendships. Photo by David Diggs

Much of our funding for the Child Literacy Program comes to us through the Partnership of Hope. Individuals, churches, and other groups are partnered with particular literacy centers. They provide $200 per month, which covers the cost of running a center, including books and other teaching materials, teacher salaries and training, and most of the administrative expenses of managing the program.

Beyond Borders also funds training for teachers in this program each year. Most of this training takes place during the summer vacation months but can also take place during the year through in-service support.

The Child Literacy Program works in close cooperation with our Campaign to End Child Servitude in Haiti. Click here to learn more about this effort.

Teachers in the Child Literacy Program during the opening session of a summer training program.