Northern Haiti Sustainability Initiative (NHSI) is excited to announce that three out of four of the sixth grade students in the Laguille School passed the sixth grade government exam, allowing them to graduate elementary school and move on to secondary school. Pictured below are graduates Jean Jean Verisste and Julesie Saint Pierre, and School Administrator, Noe Jilles (left to right).

Only 22% of elementary school students in Haiti take and pass the sixth grade government exam, and just 2% of all Haitian children attend secondary school. For the past two years, NHSI has worked with School Administrator Noe Jilles to upgrade the quality of education at the Laguille School by verifying all teachers had up-to-date government class curriculums, and increasing the number of books available to all students. We are very proud of Noe and the students for achieving a pass rate over three times the national average.

The Laguille School is in a very remote area, four miles from the nearest town, Don Don, which has a population of 26,000. The students pictured above reside close to the Laguille School, while the third graduate, Delius Orfelus (pictured left) travels more than an hour and a half each way daily, through mountain terrain, to attend school. The average age of sixth grade students should be 11 years old, but the reality is that the average rural sixth grade Haitian student is 15 years old. The ages of the three Laguille graduates this year range from 15 to 19 years old. In the future, NHSI is planning on assisting the Laguille School in expanding their grade offering to ninth grade (they currently offer classes through sixth grade).