Haitian Education System Essay

Much of the dynamics of the contemporary education system in Haiti can be directly rooted back to the U.S. Occupation (1915-1934). When the U.S. forces occupied Haiti, mainly to ward off German and French influences and protect U.S. business interests, they seized control of the mandate of education policy. In 1915, French elitism and its presence in the classroom was just as much of a class barrier for average Haitians attaining basic education back then as it is now in 2016. Under American occupation, the solution to this issue was to advocate for an alternative education system that focused more on agriculture, opposed to academics. This reform was met with heavy criticism from Black intellectuals in the U.S. such as W.E.B. Dubois who accused

occupied territory, including the Dominican Republic. Lead by white men born and raised in the U.S. Jim Crow South, Service Techniques undermined the Haitian education system in several different areas. These areas included the expansion of schools into rural areas, treatment of Haitian teachers, and the resistance to adopting religious-affiliated schools. According to Haitian law (1912), there was supposed to be 1,074 schools in rural areas. By the time the U.S. had left Haiti in 1934, there were only 306 schools. Another issue was found in teacher’s salaries. American educators (who often couldn’t speak French or Creole, and were greatly ineffective at educating the students) were paid around $1,800 to $2,400 a year, while Haitian educators were paid $72 a year. Furthermore, in an effort to squash out all French influence from Haitian culture, the U.S. resisted the implementation of catholic schools into the education system despite the assistance from the members of the Haitian elite and French government forces. Although catholic schools would have done a lot to improve the education of the country, the U.S. saw them to be too affiliated with the