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Civic Leadership Fellowships for Education Equity

About the Project

This project is one of the 2021 WISE Awards finalists. 

 

Context and Issue 

Education was enshrined as a human right in Haiti’s earliest constitution, after the successful revolution resulting in our nation’s independence in 1804. Yet too many are still denied their human right to a quality education. In underserved areas, less than 30% of students successfully complete primary school and only 1% will reach university. These inequitable education outcomes reflect the systemic social injustice within the education system itself, which perpetuates the status quo. Haiti’s education system is one of the most enduring vestiges of the colonial past. Restricting education is an effective way to control the future of a nation and, in Haiti’s case, to reduce the risk of our audacious collective leadership, which resulted in the world’s first Black republic.

 

Solution and Impact

Anseye Pou Ayiti’s fellowship programming equips local leaders with the skills, competencies, and mindsets they need to change the trajectory of students’ lives and communities. Through our work, APA aims to reclaim community as the source of our power. We are breaking down the wall between classroom and community, focusing on equipping those who have lived the reality of inequity. They are the solution-bearers of genuine transformation in communities.

APA’s approach to educational justice focuses on trauma-informed pedagogy and healing to begin the process of dismantling systems of oppression, and ultimately unlock the power of Haiti’s culture and identity. We work with teacher-leaders – plus parent and school director programming – to address the harm of practices such as instruction in a foreign language, rote memorization, corporal punishment, and learning methods which disregard local culture.

 

Future Developments 

For next three years, APA’s objective is community-level proof points – what it looks like when an entire community works collectively toward educational justice. Over time, our movement will be led by 50,000 civic leaders proud of their identity, and who redefine true leadership as rooted in collective action.

May 05, 2021 (last update 05-05-2021)