Haitian Basic Education Project Celebrates Results

The Furcy Basic Education Project, which is run with the help of the local community, has started to produce striking results just six years after its creation. This basic education program, supported by the Kellogg Foundation as part of its strategy to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, is developed by professors from the University of Quisqueya in Haiti’s rural communities.

Statistics from 1999 indicate how the situation at the six schools in the region used to be chaotic. Not one had its own library or Internet connection. The situation now, however, is quite the opposite. This year, the 130 students at Furcy’s schools who took 6th grade examinations performed excellently: 91.5% passed. Six years ago, only 12 students took the examinations and not a single one passed. All the schools now have Internet connection, a library with trained staff and disability services for students. Families and the local community play an active part in school life. The Furcy educational program is part of the comprehensive cluster of projects currently being developed in Haiti.

Photo: Furcy Basic Education Project

Read more: In Rural Haiti Parents, Students ‘Roll up Sleeves’ to Transform Schools

See the video: Moving Mountains in Rural Haiti

8/31/2005

Published in Interaction nº 12