Page 19 - 20160818-Haiti booklet

HOPE FOR HAITI

IMPORTANCE OF THE VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
A vocational or trade school is a higher-level learning school that specializes in providing students
with technical skills needed in order to perform the tasks of a particular job. Those People are
prepared in a specific trade that can help them be autonomous and financially independent.
In Haiti where 35% of the population is unemployed, and where every year more than 26,000
students try to attend the national university, the Universite d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH), but only 4,500
will be accepted, leaving more than 21,000 young Haitians with no other alternatives to further
their education or learn employable skills, hence justifying the need for a vocational institution.
This case is very delicate due to the fact that many students have no other school alternatives,
forcing them to be set back a year. For this reason, the Tzu Chi vocational school is very important
for the Haitian population; by building that school the foundation will allow up to 600 students
a year to attend a technical school where they could learn an environmental field that can help
them find employment quickly, or it could be a good transition to the university.

PURPOSE AND EXPECTATION
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change
the world.” Haiti is in a critical phase where education is the only way change can be made. By
providing education, Haiti is given the tools to become independent; teaching someone how to
produce food is more sustainable than simply providing them food.
• Educate the population
The unavoidable fact is that the country is facing issues of education. Access to quality education
remains key to Haiti’s social and economic development. Surveys conducted by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicate that Haitians who are 25 years and older
received on average only 4.9 years of education and only 29 percent attended secondary school.
These statistics show that a generation of Haitian youth is at risk for not having the necessary
knowledge and basic skills to succeed in the labor force and contribute to the continued
development of the country.
• Environmental solution for the society
The increasing Haitian population also contributes to the degradation of the environment.
Environmental issues in Haiti include a severe deforestation problem, overpopulation, a lack
of sanitation and sewerage treatment, and inadequate waste management. A vocational
school would help leverage the needs for education and environmental awareness, teaching
students, for example, farming and waste management courses, the effects of overpopulation
on economy and environment--an increased population leads to waste management issues and
food shortage, and the only way to combat these issues is by way of proper education on
managing waste and agriculture techniques.

If there is a lack of education for the youth, the future of Haiti will be worse than that of the
present, hence the the importance of Tzu Chi’s vocational school.