KIX Conversations: Could the use of evidence strengthen education in Haiti?

🎥 Video KIX Conversation Haiti (Subtitles available in English)

The sixteenth edition of the KIX Conversations featured Dr. Guerlande BIEN-AIMÉ, coordinator of the Training pillar of InnovEd-Uniq. and representative for Haiti at the KIX LAC center, who spoke about the educational context of the country and the current state of research and the use of evidence. The interview was conducted by KIX LAC researcher, Maciel Morales Aceitón.

The talk began with a detailed overview of the current situation of the Haitian education system after the multiple climatic, health and social emergencies that have affected the country in recent years, highlighting the need to work on the recovery of learning, pedagogical continuity and the socioemotional dimension of both students and teachers.

In this context, Dr. Bien-Aime shared the research work she has been developing on bilingualism in Haiti, emphasizing the dichotomy that exists between the French language and Creole, and the social representation that both have. On the other hand, she spoke about a study she is conducting with other researchers on the schooling of Haitian migrant children in Chile, highlighting the need to generate data on this recent topic.

Finally, Dr. Bienaimé spoke about the future challenges of research and the use of educational evidence for Haiti as well as for other countries in the region, providing some reflections and strategies that could be useful to generate this culture, among them:

• Strengthening collaborative work among the various actors and educational institutions,
• Raise awareness among researchers, academic institutions and decision makers on the need to formulate and use evidence for the formulation of educational policies relevant to the reality of each of the territories.
• Generate accessible data adapted to the needs of the community.
• Socialize research results in an accessible and multilingual language.
• Generate spaces for dialogue that bring together diverse actors of the educational system, where the results of the studies are disseminated.