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# The contribution of international scientific databases to the social revitalization of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (CoNaSTI)

Patrick Saint-Pré, Quetya Aubin

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Patrick Saint-Pré, Quetya Aubin. The contribution of international scientific databases to the social revitalization of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (CoNaSTI). 2025. hal-04959771

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https://hal.science/hal-04959771v1

Preprint submitted on 20 Feb 2025

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# The contribution of international scientific databases to the social revitalization of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (CoNaSTI)

Patrick Saint-Pré<fnref n="1" /> and Quetya Aubin<fnref n="2" />

Pôle Haïti-Antilles, Haïti Sciences et Société (HaSci-So), Port-au-Prince, Haiti

## Summary

The National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (CoNaSTI in french), created by ministerial decree on July 29, 2022, has among its main remits the promotion of the development and improvement of national science, technology and innovation policies. Its profound silence at national level on contemporary scientific issues has led media workers to question the future of this body, which guarantees the scientific quality of the programs of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) of the Republic of Haiti and is responsible for contributing to the definition of policy orientations in the field of scientific research.

**Key words:** CoNaSTI, scientific validation, Haitian education system, 3rd cycle curricula, Haitian secondary school curriculum, NECTAR, MENFP, scientific journalism.

## Introduction

On January 4, 2023, Radio Magik 9 - [https://on.soundcloud.com/oL9fx](https://on soundcloud com oL9fx) [1] welcomed Professor Evens Emmanuel, President of the Commission Nationale de la Science, la Technologie et l'Innovation (CoNaSTI), in a dialogue on this structure whose work had just been officially launched by the Ministry of National Education. Since then, there has been a profound silence on the existence of this structure. Today, the urgent need/responsibility for certain press workers to mobilize the theories of science journalism to play a crucial role in disseminating knowledge and educating the public about contemporary scientific issues has led two journalists to use the word "conasti" to question two international scientific databases and to find out about the work of this national commission.

The first "HAL les Archives Ouvertes du CNRS" database highlighted - [https://hal.science/search/index?q=title t:conasti](https://hal science search title t:conasti) - a publication on the legal framework of CoNaSTI (Étienne and Prince, 2023)[2]. According to the authors of this work, "The Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, through the Order of July 29, 2022, took the decision to create the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (CoNaSTI). This decision came just over two years after the publication in Le Moniteur of the Decree of [March 11, 2020] on the organization and operation of the National Agency for Higher Education and Scientific Research (ANESRS). The creation of this agency is provided for in article 211 of the

<footnote n="1">¹sppatrick12@gmail.com</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²quetyaaubin25@gmail.com</footnote>
*Constitutional Act of May 09, 2011 amending the Constitution of March 29, 1987. The field of science and technology has been articulated in Haiti through two key pieces of legislation since the Academy of Sciences was established by the kingdom of King Henry Christophe.*

As for the second "Google Scholar" database, it reports the existence - https://scholar.google.fr/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Conasti&oq=cona - of the document entitled "Rapport sur la Validation Scientifique des Programmes du 3e Cycle du Fondamental et du Secondaire du Projet NECTAR" (Camilus et al., 2024)[3].

Of these two documents, this opinion focuses on the CoNaSTI report. The aim is not only to make the report's authors' scientific reflections on the country's education policy accessible to the public, but also to encourage informed citizen debate on the future of Haitian schools for the cycles selected.

## Brief presentation of the report

It's a 166-page document, written by 15 Haitian experts: Adler Camilus, Jean Waddimir Gustinvil, Alexandra Emmanuel, Renauld Govain, David Noncent, Hubermane Ciguino, Moles Paul, Antonine Phigareau, Jasmine Césars, Jean-Jacques Cadet, Vosh Dathus, Ketty Balthazard-Accou, Jacques Abraham and Evens Emmanuel. It is structured around 9 points: a. an executive summary in four languages (Creole, French, English and Spanish); b. the introduction; c. towards a new theoretical and conceptual framework on the competency-based approach (CBA); d. the methodology adopted by CoNaSTI for carrying out the scientific validation of the 3rd cycle and secondary curricula of the NECTAR project; e. CoNaSTI's understanding of the Curricular Orientation Framework (COF); f. scientific validation of the 3rd cycle basic school curriculum; g. scientific validation of the secondary school curriculum; h. conclusion and recommendations; i. appendices. This last section is subdivided into three relevant topics: Appendix 1. Taking inclusive education into account; Appendix 2. How does the Curriculum Framework (CF) address the issue of segregation in the school context? Appendix 3. Reading notes on the teacher's grid.

## CoNaSTI's scientific validation report

The main objective of this work was to assess the scientific relevance of the curricula for the 3rd basic cycle (grades 7, 8 and 9) and the four years of secondary school in Haiti. The curricula in question were developed as part of the NECTAR ("Nouvelle Éducation Citoyenne Tournée vers l'AveniR") project, funded by the French Development Agency (AFD). It is an initiative that accompanies curriculum reform in Haiti, in support of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP).

In the introduction to the report, the authors state: "*Generally speaking, there are various reasons for implementing a culture of evaluation of public policies and projects (ex ante and post ante evaluation). According to the scientific literature summarized, evaluation contributes to better decision-making, formalization and structuring of democratic judgment, with a "normative" and "cognitive" dimension. It reduces the margin of error in the decision taken* (Camilus et al (2024)).

The scientific team in charge of writing this report also took the opportunity to praise the MENFP's responsiveness to this issue. Indeed, according to the authors, it was the MENFP's responsiveness to scientific analysis that paved the way for CoNaSTI to pose a problem and research questions.
"Why doesn't curricular reform take into account all strata of the Haitian education system, i.e. early childhood curricula, those of the first two cycles of basic education and the harmonization of higher education curricula? Will curricular reform lead to the inclusion of Haitian schools in the dynamics of regional (or international) evaluation of education systems? Does this reform include the development, adoption and implementation of a status or career plan for teachers from early childhood to the final year of secondary school, or NS4? Do Haitian schools now have the didactic materials needed to implement the new curricula (textbooks, practical laboratories, field visits and tutorials, etc.)?"

From a methodological point of view, Camilus et al (2024) place their work "within the theoretical approach of the scientific evaluation of public education policies with the aim of strengthening and enlightening the authorities in their decision-making". This evaluation study was carried out according to two criteria: internal and external. Internally, any scientific evaluation of a project or public policy is defined in scientific literature as a collective process enabling its value to be assessed in the light of certain research criteria/protocols. Such as, for example, the "methodology" used, the "sample", the "relevance" and "coherence" of the proposals in relation to the "objectives" and "aims" of the program or project. Externally, the education public policy project must be part of a comparative approach to other public policies in competitor countries, in an interconnected, globalized world in which education is one of the fundamental challenges. Thus, this evaluation adopts a comparative approach in relation to international standards unanimously recognized in the scientific world of educational sciences, taking into account its proven results or those unanimously recognized in the world of research".

With regard to the conclusion and recommendations, the authors submit the following to MENFP: "After analyzing the documents and reports submitted for our appraisal, CoNaSTI gives a favorable opinion for the NECTAR project reforms as a whole, while inviting the Ministry to make corrections to the programs."

"In the very short term, NECTAR must build on the comments made in the technical validation reports for the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary education. In the medium term, CoNaSTI strongly recommends that NECTAR and MENFP set up a structure, starting with the new school year, made up of researchers and teachers from the two cycles selected, to observe and collect data resulting from the experimentation or implementation of this reform, taking into account certain recommendations made in this report, i.e. "the components of curricular reform", the report continues.

As recommendations, the report calls for the development of a drafting protocol in line with academic standards, and for documents to be revised in line with CoNaSTI's comments; for documents to be made more accessible to the general public, and for special needs students to be integrated into curricula; for curricula to be harmonized at all levels, and rigorously tested before being generalized; and finally, for a National Institute for Educational Research to be set up.

## Feedback on reading this validation report

This work is a significant contribution to the positioning of Haitian Creole in international scientific databases. It would be interesting if the Académie haïtienne de la langue créole were to support this effort to raise the international scientific profile of Creole. Would it be possible, within the framework of academic reflections on scientific diplomacy, for the Haitian State to initiate action so that the Creole version of abstracts of certain research produced by Haitian researchers is accepted and introduced into international scientific databases? [4]
The availability on HAL, the CNRS open archive, of the scientific validation report on the NECTAR results, and the referencing of the document on Google Scholar, are a further contribution to the implementation of a national policy in favor of open science, development and the free dissemination of Haitian scientific thought at international level. Among other things, this electronic publication promotes the dissemination of information on the national system of scientific research, technology and innovation. However, considering the digital bill, the national weakness of electricity coverage, and the socio-economic conditions of some of the country's schools, it would be a good idea for the NECTAR project and MENFP to study the possibility of printing a certain number of copies of this report to enable a larger number of analysts to report on the progress of CoNaSTI experts' thinking, and to highlight the societal and ethical implications of scientific developments in the field of education in Haiti.

This report suggests that CoNaSTI is not dead. However, it would be of great national benefit if the Haitian state were to question the need to ensure the future of the national science policy institutions it has created, "CoNaSTI and ANESRS", for example, to enable the country to be seen differently in future UNESCO world science reports.

## References

1. Listen to Evens Emmanuel, Interview Panel Magik 4 Janvier 2023 by Radio Magik9 on #SoundCloud https://on.soundcloud.com/oL9fx

2. Thadal Étienne, Neptune Prince (2023). *Analyse du cadre légal de la CoNaSTI*. Rapport technique. Port-au-Prince : Commission Nationale de la Science, la Technologie et l'Innovation (CoNaSTI). (hal-04922488). https://hal.science/hal-04922488v1

3. Adler Camilus, Jean Waddimir Gustinvil, Alexandra Emmanuel, Renauld Govain, David Noncent, Hubermane Ciguino, Moles Paul, Antonine Phigareau, Jasmine Césars, Jean-Jacques Cadet, Vosh Datus, Ketty Balthazard-Accou, Jacques Abraham, Evens Emmanuel. (2024) *Validation scientifique des programmes du 3ᵉ cycle du fondamental et du secondaire du projet NECTAR*. Port-au-Prince : Commission nationale de la science, la technologie et l'innovation (CoNaSTI), 166p. ISBN : 978-99994-0-092-3. HAL Id: hal-04856471. https://hal.science/hal-04856471v1

4. Patrick Saint-Pré, Quetya Aubin. (2025). L'apport des bases de données scientifiques internationales à la revitalisation sociale de la CoNaSTI. Port-au-Prince : Pôle Haïti-Antilles, Haïti Sciences et Société (HaSci-So). (hal-04949730). https://hal.science/hal-04949730