At the outset World Bank staff were concerned at the potential lack of Timorese participation in the World Bank-administered Emergency School Readiness Project. However, the East Timorese played a significant role in decisions about every component of the project: the list of schools to be rehabilitated was revised; the prototype schools were redesigned; 40 percent of school desks and chairs were built by local carpenters; plans to import plastic school furniture were set aside; Portuguese language texts were purchased for high school students; an Australian Timorese (not a World Bank consultant) managed social mobilisation and communications; school mapping was carried out by a Portuguese university. Policy development and study visits took place, but with consultants and at locations determined by the Timorese themselves.

At independence on 20 May 2002 basic levels of service in education had been restored throughout the country. An evaluation by the European Commission found that the education sector was one of few sectors where ownership is most obvious.