HAITI – Creole, literacy and education

The question of which language or languages ​​to use in the education of Haitian children and in adult literacy programs, which are organized by governmental and voluntary organizations in Haiti, has generated a great debate among educators and the Haitian public in general. . . Two languages ​​are spoken in Haiti, Creole and French. Creole is the most universally spoken language in Haiti and represents more than ninety percent of native monolingual speakers; Whereas the French language has for the past two centuries enjoyed a place of honor as the country’s sole medium for official commercial and government transactions, as well as the language of education. To understand the position of the various parties in this debate, we have to go back to the evolution of language and education in Haiti since its independence from France on January 1, 1804.

Post-independence Haiti Haiti was transformed from a French slave colony to an autonomous and independent entity in its own right through sustained armed struggle and war between French slave owners and their enslaved African companions. The revolutionary war was long, bitter, but sustained by the grim determination of enslaved Africans to break the yoke of French slavery from their necks or die trying. When the white French were finally expelled from Haiti, their language remained the official means of communication in all government and commercial transactions. The place of prominence and influence left by the French who left was taken by their mulatto children, who later occupied the elite upper class of the emerging Haitian society.

The unique position of the half French and half African mulattoes, as heirs to their French parents, gave them the economic and political influence to make decisions in all aspects of Haitian public and educational life. They did this by consolidating the continued use of the French language in all official government affairs, as well as making French the sole language of educational instruction. The vast majority of Haitians could not speak or write in French. This majority was made up mainly of Afro-Haitians, who had no education and, therefore, could not contribute in any way to the national discourse; while they constitute more than ninety percent of the total population of Haiti. Afro-Haitians only spoke Creole, which until recently was not recognized as an official language in Haiti.

Modern haiti The state of affairs continued like this for over a hundred years. The little progress made by a fairly small number of Afro-Haitians who were educated had no effect on the dominant status and position of the French language in Haitian national affairs. Instead, by what would amount to a rather ironic turn of events, these Afro-Haitians, who had moved from their humble condition in the rural peasantry, through the urban lower class, to the urban middle class, were more interested in strengthen their positions, than in changing things for the better for their marginalized brothers and sisters in the lower classes of Haitian society.

These middle-class Afro-Haitians behaved like typical status-seeking social climbers, who believed that the French language was their passport to fuel their upward movement in Haitian society. Thus, they joined the elite upper-class Haitian mulattoes to thwart any attempt to change the status quo. To further complicate matters for the promotion of Creole in a national language and a medium of instruction in schools, some members of the peasant class felt that it was better for their children to learn French, so that they could escape the trap of the poverty. of the Haitian rural peasantry. Even past Haitian governments that claimed to represent the interests of the masses have been hesitant to give equal legal status to Creoles and French, lest they step on the powerful feet of the elite upper-class mulattoes.

Therefore, the Creole language remained an informal means of communication for more than one hundred and seventy years. It was not until the late 1970s that the government approved the use of Creole in education. The implementation of the government approval was not carried out with enthusiasm. Even in the 1980s, there were still some questions about whether Creole should be used in elementary schools. In 1987, a breakthrough was made with the inclusion of Creole in the National Constitution of Haiti, as a co-national language of Haiti along with French. The door was now open for the integration of the most popular Creole language into the school educational system.

However, both the government and non-governmental organizations still need to do much to truly bring the Creole language to its rightful place as the authentic national language of Haiti. As an urgent first step, the standardization of Creole spelling must be vigorously pursued by linguists in the academic world and all those interested in its progress, beyond a mere glorified appendage of French. The National Pedagogical Institute (Institut Pédagogique Nacional – IPN) has taken the initiative to develop an orthography of the Creole language that includes elements of the two systems previously in use. In the areas of popular literature, books and magazines must be produced in Creole at a faster rate than is currently available. The print and electronic media have taken steps to popularize Creole literature, but much remains to be done.

The Haitian government must take the implementation of the relevant parts of the 1987 Haitian National Constitution more seriously. All aspects of Haitian national life need to feel the presence of the Creole language, as a means of official transactions. Much work urgently needs to be done in developing curricula at all levels of Haitian education, using Creole as the medium for such development. Likewise, adult literacy programs should be established to improve the literacy level of rural peasants and the urban lower classes in Haiti. It is noteworthy that some ecclesiastical groups have taken the bull for the horn, publishing some religious literature in the Creole language. The popular monthly Bon Nouvel, published by a Roman Catholic group, is one such publication. Half of the New Testament of the Holy Bible has also been published in Creole thanks to the efforts of a group of Protestant churches.