Under the 1987 Constitution, adopted after the overthrow of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s dictatorship, Creole and French have been the two official languages. But at least 95 percent of the population speaks only Creole. For the past two centuries, most communications in government, white-collar business, media and education have been in French. The preference for French has been internalized even by those who have no opportunity to learn the language. Such attitudes have started to change, but too slowly.

When children start school, they are forced to study in French, although there is no pedagogical support for this abrupt transition. As documented in a 2012 government report, most students resort to memorizing letters and sounds without understanding, and end up with low levels of literacy.

Happily, the government of President Michel Martelly, who ran on a platform of universal, free, compulsory education and took office in 2011, has increased access to primary education to 88 percent — up from 47 percent in 1993 and ahead of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The next hurdle is language. Study after study highlights the importance of using native language to establish the foundations of literacy, numeracy and basic scientific knowledge, with which other academic domains, including the study of French, can be pursued.

A collaborative initiative between M.I.T. and Haiti has produced a collection of Creole resources for science and math. In teacher-training workshops, one teacher told us, “When we teach in Creole, the students ask more questions.” And from a student, “The advantage of learning in Creole is that it is more explicit; it allows us to see more clearly.” At a June 2014 workshop, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, other officials and M.I.T. faculty members explored the challenges and opportunities facing Haiti with the sophistication and nuance that such a meeting demands: All of the materials were written in Creole.

Creole’s exile from Haitian education is tied to Haiti’s colonial past. Haiti won its independence from France in 1803 after a historic revolution, becoming the first republic governed by formerly enslaved people of African descent. Yet its European legacy is still valued more highly than the African and Creole ingredients of its culture. “What influence can Haiti ever have with its Creole?” the poet Carl Brouard once warned. “Parents, never speak Creole to your children.” The bias toward French keeps the elite’s interests well protected from the needs of the masses. Creole holds the potential to democratize knowledge, and thus liberate the masses from extreme poverty.