ABSTRACT
During UNTAET a basic system of education was established by CNRT teams at national and district level in collaboration with UNTAET and other international colleagues. Today there are many more (but not enough) schools, teachers and students. Student indicators have improved. Attention to quality in education has resulted in a new Timorese curriculum, accompanied by scripted lessons, classroom resources, teacher training and mentoring, with a focus on child-centred classrooms. Feedback from the mother tongue pilot program has been encouraging.
Problems with Portuguese language teaching and learning continue to bedevil education in a country still plagued by the politics of language. Yet even here, hopes are high that a new approach to learning Portuguese at primary level in tandem with a new project to give teachers Portuguese language skills may succeed where previous projects have failed.
