Strengthening our language
On May 28 this year, Haiti's president Jean-Bertrand Aristide launched a national literacy campaign, with 2582 new monitors. The goal is to teach all Haitians how to read and write. This past August 16, he received hundreds of university students at the National Palace who had been recently trained to become literacy monitors. The goal is noble. Yet, the impediments are numerous, if one considers Haiti's reality.
Literacy and langage
Since Mr. Bernard was Haiti's Education Minister in the late 70's, Haiti has been dealing with the issue of language in our educational system. Prior to that period, virtually all schools in Haiti educated children in French, oftentimes to the detriment of all parties, professors and students. Many of the professors themselves do not have great command of the language. The students were therefore compelled to learn in a language that both professors and students do not fully understand. Liberating the educational system through teaching in the common language of Haiti is a serious issue that had often been, and still is. How can a professor teach a student History, Mathematics, Physics, or Civism if the professor does not fully master the language used to relate those disciplines to the students? That perhaps explains partially why so many lower income Haitians have not been able to pass successfully the State exams, to this day given only in French.
As the popular movement began to take roots in Haiti, liberating groups and organizations in the Catholic Church also began to teach poor peasants how to read and write in their language. The Protestant Church also opened schools in numerous parts of the capital and the provinces, where classes are mostly taught in the Haitian language, even when the books are written in French. Those sorts of educational services benefited mostly the poor. Today, education in Haiti is mostly bilingual, at least at the primary level. The benefits from that new system have yet to be proclaimed or verified. This simple fact, of introducing the maternal language to all students in their classroom, has hopefully liberated most minds about the value of an education taught in one's maternal tongue.
Economy, legality and value
The dispute over Haiti's literacy rate has been going on for a while now, with individuals and organizations suggesting figures that vary from 30 to 60 percent. The true reason behind this discrepancy stems apparently from different facts. On the one hand, many people are uncomfortable recognizing Haiti's maternal tongue has a language. That makes it very difficult for them to recognize the value of an education given to anyone that is not in French. To be considered literate, it is thus necessary to know the alphabet in French. The consequence of such logic is the rejection of the otherwise limited education received by large numbers of people. This partially explains the discrepancy in the statistics. With this Haitian leadership resolved to deal with the issue of literacy in Haiti, thousands more Haitians young and hold, can carry the hope of learning how to read and write. Still, the reality of Haiti suggests that many things must be done to make that literacy goal an active reality.
The matter of legality is also important to consider. It may be true that Haiti's official languages are French and the mother tongue as required by the 1987 Constitution. Yet, all signs are exclusively in French, from the airport to the street names and the spelling of streets, towns, and all localities. If and once there are laws in the books that deal with this issue, it will begin to get easier to fully integrate the entire population into the nation's life.
Someone for instance who learned how to read and write in the maternal tongue, also knows the spelling of the city of St-Marc in Haitian, Senmak, whereas this person coming from Montrouis to St-Marc may find the town's name posted only in French. That is or would be another from of illiteracy, if there are no effective legislation to deal with this issue. It will also cost government thousands and perhaps even millions of gourdes to fully integrate the population in that context. Will there be after the success of such literacy campaign, legislation dealing with all the intricacies involved in fully integrating the Haitian language into the country's economy? How much will it cost? Will businesses be encouraged, or compelled to produce contracts, labels, etc, in both French and Haitian? These are some of the questions that must be asked, as government is investing in teaching millions of people how to read and write, in the only language that they have known all their lives.
