Country

Timor-Leste

As one of the poorest nations in Asia, it is said that Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) will rely on outside Aid for many years to come. This country has a well-known recent history of how its independence came about; the people of this country were met with very high levels of atrocity and violence. Over the past decade and post-independence, however, Timor-Leste has begun to benefit from the foundations of successful development. EAC, in partnership with UNESCO, aims to support the primary education in this country through policy advocacy that considers the needs of out of school children.

Timor-Leste
source(s): UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report 2013/14

Main Barriers to Education

  • Poverty
  • Poor infrastructure
  • Rapid population growth
  • Conflict affected

     

In 1999, before independence in 2002, the people of this country were subjected to extreme violence, however, in 2006/7, the government of Timor-Leste succeeded in bringing about a more stable and secure environment for its people.  A coalition was built, which according to the BBC, increased tangible services and created a hard-won political stability with absence of conflict, and fostered a new confidence in the state.

By 2001, almost 90% of all school buildings, where 240,000 children were educated and 6000 teachers were employed, were destroyed.  In the time following independence (2002) and since stability has ensued, this country has faced enormous challenges in rebuilding its infrastructure in order to ensure that children could go to school.  Exacerbating this issue was rapid population growth, which meant that the government was placed under further unexpected pressure to ensure that children would be able to attend school.

The rebuilding of Timor-Leste has been supported by the development of off shore oil and gas resources, unfortunately this did not result in an industry that would boost employment as there are no production facilities in Timor-Leste.

The World Bank states that

“The World Development Report 2011 found that on average post-conflict countries take between 15 and 30 years – a full generation – to transition out of fragility and to build resilience. It is against this backdrop that social and economic development in Timor-Leste can be seen as remarkable.”

sources: WORLDBANK, BBC,  MAPS OF WORLD, WORLD FACT BOOK

Year added: 
2014

Projects

Strengthening Education System for Out of School Children

The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and East Timor continue to face challenges in reaching and educating out of school children (OOSC). The EAC-UNESCO Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Education Strengthening Education Systems for Out of School Children project seeks to enrol and retain 50,000 out of school children in quality primary education programs in the sub-region.
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Partners

UNESCO

EAC partnered with UNESCO to help realise Sustainable Development Goal 4 (ensure inclusive and quality education for all), as well as the former Millennium Development Goal 2 (achieve universal primary education). To that end, the two have joined in partnership to implement education interventions in 11 countries to reach OOSC in Asia and the Middle East.
en.unesco.org  |   Learn more