La Vallée de Jacmel is known for having one of the highest literacy rates in Haiti. With the effort of certain institutions such as the Catholic Church, local organizations such as “le Conseil Communautaire de Muzac”, ADEM (Association pour le développement de Muzac) and other community leaders, now Muzac has about 20 schools including primary, middle and high schools serving an average 3000 students each year. To name a few, National School of Dade, built in early 1980’s; National School of Musac, built late 1980’s; National School of Lauture, build late 1980’s; IPHEP, built in early 2000’s. As a result, more than 90% of children attend a local school until terminating their high school education. This is one of the major achievements of this community within the last 30 years. Before 1980, students had to walk 7 to 10 kilometers to Ridoré or about 14 to 16 kilometers to Jacmel to attend a primary school.
People of Muzac believe the most important gift they can provide to their children is a good education, and it is perhaps the only way out to a decent opportunity. Unfortunately, to this date, there is only one professional, post-secondary school serving only a fraction of the students: EFTAG in Ridoré, but none in Muzac, nor any colleges. Most students, after completing their secondary education or high school, have to be relocated to Port-Au-Prince or Jacmel for post-secondary education or trade school. Those whose parents cannot afford the cost of relocation, just remain there with an unfulfilled dream of higher education.
There is no public library in Muzac, therefore students do not have the possibility to conduct any academic research outside their classrooms. All the schools in Muzac, except IPEPH, have no access to modern learning technology or computer lab with access to the internet, so they are disconnected from the rest of world. This is a major disadvantage, not only for students, but also for the whole population to compete in 21st century.
