Fabrice Mauriès the Ambassador of France in Haiti, Gaëlle Letilly, Director in Haiti of the French Development Agency (AFD) and Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis President of the Knowledge and Freedom Foundation (FOKAL) signed last week a Convention of financing of 3 million Euros for the "Lekòl Nou" Project.

This project is one of the three components of the "Avni Nou" Program (12 million €) whose purpose is to improve the quality of education in basic public schools in Haiti through the professional development of teachers.

More specifically, the "Lekòl Nou" Project aims to improve the image of teachers in Haitian society, strengthen relationships within educational communities and transform teaching practices.

To achieve this, FOKAL plans to deploy a social mobilization system at the center of which will be created a radio series to be broadcast on the national territory which will promote teachers "probably the most neglected of the Haitian education system [...] who deserve to be supported" as recalled by Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis President of FOKAL.

While sharing with us the lives of teachers, this series will address critical topics such as learning disabilities or violence in schools (including sexual violence and corporal punishment). Over the course of the series, a certain number of educational and fun tools will be produced to relay on social networks and within schools, the questions raised by each episode.

Theater plays, screenings-debates, village forums will enrich the social mobilization system imagined by FOKAL and its partners ("Mwèm Foundation", "Association Quatre Chemins", "Village Santé" and "Blue Butterfly").

"The 'Lekòl Nou' Project is innovative and sets an essential milestone in AFD's contribution to a more comprehensive reform of the Haitian education system," said Gaëlle Letilly, Director of AFD in Haiti.

With €37 million of commitments in favor of education and vocational training in Haiti, the French Development Agency is the main bilateral funder of the sector and confirms the priority given to education by the Agency and France in Haiti.

HL/ HaitiLibre