 FOKAL (Fondasyon Konesans ak Libete) was founded
in 1991, in Haiti, a country marked by dictatorship
and violence, plagued by illiteracy, unemployment
and shortage of resources, extreme poverty and
uncontrolled population growth. FOKAL's work has
focused until now on education (Step by Step program,
teacher training, debate program) and information
(library program, internet), with special care
being taken to integrate marginalized populations
in the process of school reform as a way to structure
communities around their schools and to facilitate
interaction between populations and institutions.
FOKAL has deliberately chosen children and youth
as its target group, an has the great ambition
to provide access to knowledge, books, the internet,
tools of scientific learning and the opportunity
to all for life as equal citizens. FOKAL's programs
seek to facilitate openings to the world and to
develop individual and collective empowerment and
responsibility.
Tipa Tipa / Step by Step Haiti
Tipa Tipa/ Step by Step Haiti is one of the programs
of the "Foundation Konesans as Liberete" (FOKAL),
one of the Soros network foundations.
Tipa Tipa is a school program for children 0-12
and their families. This program offers quality
and modern education opportunities to children
from disadvantages environments using an individualized
child-centered approach. The program also encourages
participation form the families and local communities.
The program has built 5 model preschools and
assisted 7 schools renovate their preschool buildings
and general facilities. A total of twelve schools
(32 preschool and 23 primary classrooms) are now
equipped with developmentally appropriate classroom
furniture. Fifteen schools involved in the program
have received educational materials for preschool
and grade one and two. Teachers from all 28 schools
involved have received training on educational
strategies for preschool through grade six.
Teachers of these schools are not only introduced
to the child centered approach but are also given
instruction on teaching methods for mathematics,
experimental sciences, social sciences, art, Creole
and language development and French as a second
language. Issues concerning health, nutrition and
hygiene are offered to teachers, children, families
and other interested community members. Families
receive specific training in organizational skills
and strategies for supporting learning activities
at home.
The specific challenges encountered by Tipa Tipa
include:
- Training teachers with very low general education
levels;
- Training teachers with almost no teacher training;
- Difficult access and communication problems
with schools located in remote areas.
In order to join forces with national institutions
involved in education and to have them benefit
from the Tipa Tipa experience, the program is developing
partnerships with a special education institution
and a teacher training institution. These partnerships
will create opportunities for many in the education
field to learn from Tipa Tipa and to create a forum
for discussion of educational change in Haiti. |
