COVID-19 response
Allocation: US$7 million
Years: 2020-2022
Grant agent: UNICEF
Key documents:
The US$7 million COVID-19 grant supports:
- 350,000 children aged 5-14 from disadvantaged rural and urban areas to continue learning through different distance modalities
- Training for 7,000 teachers to support remote learning in disadvantaged rural and urban areas, including the necessary teaching materials
- A conditional cash transfer program to provide financial support for the families of the most vulnerable students to cope with the economic consequences of COVID-19
- 1,000 children with special needs including through financial, psychosocial, tailored distance learning and face-to-face programs
- School kits for children and teachers in 350 schools to support the return to school
- 210 hand washing stations to ensure safety as schools re-open
- Psychosocial support for students, parents and teachers, including teacher training once schools re-open
- Strengthened capacity of the ministry at all levels to support the implementation of the priority action plan and ensure the coordination of partner interventions.
In late March 2020, the UNICEF office in Haiti received a GPE grant of US$70,000 to support the Ministry of Education’s capacity to plan and coordinate the COVID response plan. Equipment to facilitate working from home for ministry personnel was procured along with protective equipment.
Education in Haiti
Haiti faces both supply and demand challenges in education. On the supply side, there are not enough spaces for children to enroll in school. On the demand side, the average cost of US$80 in tuition per child/per year before books, uniforms and transportation, puts basic education unaffordable for many.
Haiti’s school system is dominated by the non-public sector, whether for-profit, faith-based or run by non-governmental organizations. More than 80% of primary schools are non-public, enrolling more than 80% of all primary school children.
Haiti’s government has put access to quality education at the top of its policy agenda. In August 2014, it announced 12 policy measures to stabilize and improve governance and quality in the education system.
The current sector plan covers the period 2013-2016 and aims to promote the development of early childhood and preschool education, as well as child and adult literacy, and to improve:
- access to, and quality of primary schooling,
- access to, and completion of lower secondary school,
- access to, and retention in general secondary school,
- access to, and governance at the tertiary level and for vocational and technical training
- special education services,
- information systems and management capacities of the ministry of education,
- human resources management and working conditions improvement for education professionals.
A teacher database is being prepared to provide basic data on the country’s 200,000 teachers. Those registered in the system will be issued a teaching permit and given two years to prove they have basic qualifications.
Likewise, data on the country’s 20,000 schools is being captured and a school identity card will be issued, from which time each school has two years to meet certain quality standards. Failing to meet these will mean the school will no longer be allowed to function or be eligible for state support. These two measures are the current priorities of the ministry.
According to national data, in 2014-2015 education spending was 19.8% of Haiti’s total government spending and represented 9% of the gross domestic product.
Haiti has made available to UIS enrollment data for 2011/2012. The ministry of education is enhancing its information system with technical and financial support from partners (IDB, UNESCO, AECID, among others) with the objective to produce updated education indicators every year, starting from July 2011.
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The US$16.5 million grant finance the program “Promoting an Efficient Education System in Haiti” with the World Bank as grant agent.
With a fixed part of US$11.55 million and a variable part of US$4.95 million, the PEES supports the implementation of priority programs in the recently endorsed 10-year education sector plan, building on the World Bank’s program (2016-2022), and consolidating the programs of other key partners.
The PEES places a strong emphasis on improving governance and efficiency to lay a solid foundation for an effective education system, enabling the sustainability of future interventions. More specifically, the PEES finances activities that aim to improve the Ministry of Education’s planning and regulatory functions at central and decentralized levels, including a system for learning assessments.
The activities are aligned with GPE’s three strategic goals and organized around the following three components:
- Improving planning and regulation
- Improving the learning assessment system, including ANLAS assessment, development of learning standards for Creole, French and Math for the two cycles of primary education, and the development and piloting of the learning assessment tool
- Strengthening the capacities of the Ministry of Education.
The program supported by US$3.3 million in accelerated funding is motivated by the desire of the government to mitigate the effects of the security crisis on learning. It will contribute to achieving the objectives of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
Aiming to reach 80,000 primary and secondary children in around 200 public schools, the program has 5 components:
- Provision of psychosocial support to 30,000 students and 750 teachers through:
- the dissemination and awareness of code of conduct against violence in the school environment and right to education
- the implementation of an awareness campaign in target schools.
- Provision of teaching aid to teachers, aid for school materials for students and financial aid for families, reaching 40,000 children and 1,000 teachers. This includes activities like:
- Distribution of age-appropriate school kits (preschool and basic) to 40,000 children
- Distribution of 30,000 textbooks (French, Creole, mathematics) to 10,000 primary school students in targeted urban areas
- Cash transfers to support access to education and school attendance for 1,600 vulnerable children in public schools of Port-au-Prince.
- Refresher/remedial courses and tutoring for 50,000 children and youth (including the dissemination and application of minimum skills programs) through:
- Refresher/remedial courses and preparation for state exams for 50,000 primary and secondary school children
- Distribution of learning and support materials
- Training of 1,000 teachers.
- Non-formal basic education and training for 500 15-18-year-old youth. This will consist of setting up non-formal basic education and training on the basis of modules approved by the National Institute of Professional training (INFP) for 500 young people aged 15 to 18 who have dropped out of school because of the socio-economic and political crisis.
- Strengthening the ministry for the implementation of the response strategy as well as the coordination of development partners interventions. This will include activities like:
- Development of student monitoring tools for teachers, directors, and education districts staff
- Material and logistical support to local staff for the implementation of the monitoring activities
- Training of ministry staff in the use of monitoring tools.
These activities are meant to be complementary to current programs underway (focusing on 4 out of the 6 objectives in the government response plan).
Grants
All amounts are in US dollars.
| Grant type | Years | Allocations | Utilization | Grant agent | |
| Accelerated funding | 2020-2022 | 3,300,000 | 1,489,183 | UNICEF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 | 2020-2022 | 7,000,000 | 2,059,553 | UNICEF | |
| Program implementation | 2021-2026 | 16,500,000 | 2,184,724 | WB | Progress report |
| 2014-2018 | 24,100,000 | 24,100,000 | WB | Completion report | |
| 2010-2015 | 21,999,969 | 21,999,969 | WB | Completion report | |
| Sector plan development | 2013 | 157,202 | 157,202 | WB | |
| Program development | 2020-2021 | 199,800 | 199,295 | WB | |
| 2013-2014 | 107,507 | 107,507 | WB | ||
| Total | 73,364,478 | 52,297,433 |
GPE has also provided the Regroupement Education pour Toutes et Tous (REPT) with a grant from the Civil Society Education Fund, to support its engagement in education sector policy dialogue and citizens’ voice in education quality, equity, and financing and sector reform.