History
The first Constitution, promulgated in 1805, stated that "... education shall be free. Primary education shall be compulsory... State education shall be free at every level." It guaranteed the right for everyone to teach –an “open-door policy” to private initiatives which meant that every person would have the right to form private establishments for the education and instruction of youth. The practice of providing accessible public education for all was established later when the Constitution was revised in 1807. Much later in 1987, the declaration that education shall be a right for every citizen was added to the Constitution.
These educational goals expressed in the Constitution have not been achieved. In the beginning, the government’s primary focus was on building schools to serve the children of the political elite. These schools were predominantly found in urban areas, and patterned after the French and British school models. At the end of the 19th century, there were 350 public schools in the country. It rose to approximately 730 by the eve of the American Occupation of Haiti in 1917.
The government attempted to expand access to public education in the 1940s. This was halted during the Duvalier era. Between 1960 and 1971, 158 new public schools were built. Private education represented 20% of school enrollment in 1959-60. After his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier took over in 1971, the public sector continued to stagnate, but the private sector accelerated partly due to a rule instituted by Baby Doc that religious missionaries were required to build an affiliated school with any new church. By 1979-80 57% of enrollment in primary education, and 80% in secondary education was private. During the Duvalier era a number of qualified teachers left the country to escape political repression. During the 1980s, the average annual growth rates in private and public enrollment were 11% and 5%, respectively. The expansion of private schools increased further after the end of the Duvalier regime in 1986, as many religious communities established their own educational institutions. The years 1994-1999 were a peak period for school construction and the private sector has been growing exponentially since.
Read more about this topic: Education In Haiti
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