East Timor - Education



Over 90% of all school buildings were severely damaged or destroyed by the Indonesian military and in the exodus of Indonesians out of East Timor, the nation lost 20% of its primary school teachers and 80% of secondary teachers, most of whom are not expected to return. UNICEF and other international aid organizations responded fairly quickly, however, reestablishing classes for 420 of the country's 800 primary schools by December 1999 plus an additional 273 schools by April 2000.

In 2001, East Timor appointed its first minister of education. At the beginning of the 2001 academic year, there were about 240,000 primary and secondary school students enrolled in classes with over 700 primary schools, 100 junior secondary schools, 40 preschools, and 10 technical colleges. About 6,000 teachers were employed. The National University of East Timor (Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosae—UNTL) opened for classes on 27 November 2000 and had about 5,000 students in attendance in 2003. There are five faculties at the university: agriculture, political science, economics, education and teacher training, and engineering. All new students follow a course including human rights, ethics, philosophy of science, and Timorese history.

The education system includes six years of primary education and six years of secondary education. In 2000, the language of instruction was Indonesian, but this has been a subject of debate. Many are encouraging a switch to the national language of Tetum as a primary language with Portuguese and English as secondary languages. The new minister of education will need to address the issues of continued repairs and rebuilding of schools, providing adequate training for teachers, and establishing a standardized curriculum relevant to East Timorese students.

The literacy rate as of 2001 was 48% of the population ages 15 and over.

Also read article about East Timor from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

1
will koroi bete
THIS is a very good website thank you so much for the information i need this it is good.
2
Zac
hi :)



this site is very goood i like it long time and thankyou.
peace be with you./
3
jack wilkie
i realy needed this for my homework thanks i made a link to it code: education
4
unknown
This site was cool ty i need it for my homework badly thank u very much again
5
Ben
awesome i realy neaded this for my over due project
THANK YOU SO MUCH I AM DOING A PROJECT ABOUT THIS AND THIS IS JUST PERFECT!

THANKS AGAIN AND KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK :)
THIS REALLY HELPED ME WITH MY 50 PAGE LONG GEOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT ON EAST TIMOR! THX GUYS!!!
8
bob
i really found this article exciting and helpful for my research. :)
9
Jeff
This helped so much, thanks so much for my project on East Timor due tomorrow yet again thank you so much
10
Cookie
Thank you so much for this Info I'm in class bored to my mind trying to find some information about East Timor.
11
Unixcorn
Thanks guys, this really helped me get info on a project that is due tomorrow. Once again, thx
HI :) this is a very good website it help on my home work i have you this website heaps of time and m teacher said you a very smart with the info
Thanx for the info
13
aidaniscool
Thanks! This was really helpful for my brochure I have to do in Social Studies!
14
Sebastian
Thanks I appreciate it very much it was a big help for my project on this country.
15
unknown
this is a very good website and helped me with my homework

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: