Executive summary
The current state of the Haitian education sector is a reason for grave concern, both for national authorities and the international community. On a national average, only 60 percent of Haitian children between 6 and 11 are enrolled in school. While three of four children in urban areas start in primary school, only around half of the children in the rural areas are given this opportunity. The objective of this study is to identify the main factors which prevent children from being enrolled in school, the circumstances which cause them to drop out during the school year and to identify factors which make children more prone to fail their exams and hence have to repeat or drop out. The findings presented in this paper are based on qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted in four different regions of Haiti during November and December 2007. The study is a part of a larger project focusing on different areas of youth involvement. The project also includes two additional qualitative studies focusing on the issues of youth’s involvement in armed violence, and youth and labour migration respectively, as well as a quantitative, nationally representative youth survey. The final report will include recommendations and advice on a relevant mix of policies, based on findings from both the qualitative studies and the quantitative survey. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.