LAUNCH OF THE "LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION WORKING GROUP" - Dili, 28 April 2010

MEDIA RELEASE

28 April, 2010

The National Education Commission, a consultative body of the Ministry of Education of Timor-Leste, is proud to today launch the “Language in Education Working Group”. The objective of the Group, comprising 18 representatives of the Ministry of Education, members of parliament and of civil society organizations, is to guide the process of development of a national policy on “Language in Education” for Timor-Leste.

At the request of the Minister for Education, Dr João Cancio Freitas, the National Education Commission has undertaken to initiate a process whereby a policy on language use in schools is drafted, focussing upon the 9 years basic compulsory education mandated by the Ministry in late 2009 and taking into account best practice in language use in multilingual settings in the region and around the world.

Supported by a team of international policy experts, the “Language in Education Working Group” will consult broadly with community and national leaders, students and educators, to define a policy framework for the use of official and national languages in Timor-Leste schools by the end of 2010. The experience of other countries with a similarly complex linguistic panorama shows that children learn to read and write faster when the language of instruction in early primary schooling is the one they speak at home, i.e. their mother tongue.

The working group will undertake to draft:

- A policy firmly rooted in the reality of the lives and competencies of East Timorese children, families and teachers;

- A plan for gradual implementation of the policy which takes into account budgetary constraints, existing and new partnerships in the education sector;

- Models for Early Childhood Education and Professional Development of Teachers;

“The Minister of Education is to be congratulated for taking the initiative to look into the issue of language of instruction in schools in Timor-Leste”, says National Education Commission President and Goodwill Ambassador for Education, Ms Kirsty Sword Gusmão. “It is a vital step on the road to realising the Millennium Development Goals relating to universal access to primary education”, says Ms Sword Gusmão.

To obtain further information on the work of the “Language in Education Working Group”, please contact:

Kirsty Sword Gusmão
President, National Education Commission of Timor-Leste
Email: kne.timor@gmail.com
LAUNCH OF THE "LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION WORKING GROUP" - Dili, 28 April 2010