QualityEducationForAll

Haiti Salon

May 5-6, 2007

Education for ALL in Haiti

Convener: Lunise Cerin

Participants: Marie Gabriel, Belinda Gould, Jen Merritt, John Engle, Jean Claude Cerin, Shella Saint Fleur-Lominy, Rose Saint fleur, Susie Zeiger (others?)

I. Access to Quality Education by 2015 (There are presently about 250,000 restaveks in Haiti.)

II. Quality Education means:

• Basic literacy and numeracy
• Questioning
• Life skills
• Building character (construct and live with others and improve society)
• Productive citizens
• Internalize locus of control
• Falling in love with life-long learning
• Locally, culturally and linguistically relevant

III. Obstacles to Quality Education:

• Elitist mentality
• Passive method-- Freire's banking concept of education
• Lack of community involvement
• Lack of books
• Lack of physical access to school
• Lack of vision and leadership
• Lack of organized and effective structure
• Lack of financial resources
• Lack of standards
• Teaching career is not valued

IV Three Primary Obstacles:

• Lack of resources
• Lack of vision, leadership and structure
• Mentality: -elitist and exclusive -archaic concept of education

V. Solutions--What can we do?

1. Creating schemes of constructive and creative partnerships that are replicable. -peer tutoring -twinning schools -exchanges, etc.

2. Create synergy (coalition, networks, INEE, etc.) among agencies for inclusive, quality education for all. -communities -companies -individuals

3. Advocacy (Public Awareness Campaign) -U.S.--USAID -U.N. -World Bank -I.D.B. (International Development Bank) -Haiti Government & Parliament -Business Class

4. Teacher empowerment through organizing, associations and training.

VI. Assumption of Consortium that is being formed in Haiti:

• Goal of a consortium is to unify private sector of education (90% of schools in Haiti are private schools.)
• Talk to public sector (Essential!)
• Include business sector
• Get Organized

VII. Objectives of Consortium:

Help build unity and legitimacy through:

1. Legalization--by-laws, etc.

2. Publicizing in Haiti & U.S. etc. a) web site, b) media--radio & t.v.

3. Institutional Capacity Building

4. Fundraising

5. Database

6. Web site

Systems of communication--Newsletter to target members in Haiti & elsewhere

-partners in Haiti & elsewhere (officials & donors)

-friends

-general public

VIII. Knowledge Sharing and Networking in the Consortium

Mechanisms to include:

1. Habits of face to face meetings & gatherings (Consortium to sponsor open space)

2. Electronic

3. Exchange visits--teachers in Haiti and U.S. etc

IX. Create a US Consortium for Education for All in Haiti

The objective would be to support the Haiti Consortium and to initiate other strategies for promoting universal access to quality education in Haiti

1. In U.S. form planning committee: Jean Plaisir?, Chris Low?, Marie Gabriel, Kent Annan, Belinda Gould, Jen Merritt, John Engle, Joy Miksik?, Susie Zeiger, Mirlande Butler?, Erik Badger?

2. For Haiti Consortium and US Consortium to encourage creation of European consortium

3. Common meeting of consortia (Haiti, U.S. & Europe) every year in Haiti? Florida?

4. Create list serve CEFAH (Consortium Education for All Haiti)

5. Practice of conference calls

X. Partners with Consortia

IJDH (Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti) and multitudes of others.

(At this point in our discussion we ran out of time!)

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