Post Independence

The new University opened in Nov 2000 - only one building was ready and few classrooms had furniture

East Timor's new national university is seen as the country's hope for the future.

The New University

Its existence is an amazing accomplishment. No funds had been budgeted for the University by UNTAET. Many of the former UNTIM and Polytechnic staff and students worked hard for a year with no pay to establish the University.

Tight planning and active lobbying of donors by Dr Armindo Maia (acting Rector and now Minister for Education, Youth and Cultural Affairs) and the then Minister for Education, Father Filomeno Jacob, meant that the new University, despite its serious lack of resources, was able to commence teaching classes for 5,000 students and 1,500 bridging course students in November 2000.

In September 2000, cabinet allocated $1.3US million to the University from East Timor’s education budget.

The new National University of Timor Lorosa'e (UNTL) is an amalgamation of the old UNTIM and Polytechnic. The University has moved to the former Technical High School in central Dili. A number of buildings have been renovated by a local firm, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The Camara Municipal Lisboa funded and renovated the Faculty Of Education And Economics buildings. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Japanese government are assisting the rebuilding of the agricultural campus and engineering school at Hera.

Many bilateral donors have preferred to fund scholarships for East Timorese in their own countries or to fund short course training offered by the Civil Service Academy for public servants already employed by the Transitional Administration.

The University opens for classes

The University opened for classes on Nov 27^th, 2000 - two months later than originally envisaged due to reconstruction activities and the lack of resources. Most of the buildings were still being rebuilt. Few of the available classrooms had any furniture. There were virtually no teaching or curriculum resources for the newly appointed teaching staff. There was no accessible library, no administrative infrastructure, no phone network, no IT system, no Internet, no photocopiers, no fax machines, no audio-visual equipment or other basic teaching equipment. When the University opened, each faculty shared a bare classroom with a few old tables and chairs and a single secondhand computer.

Teaching Staff

Many teaching staff had returned, giving up posts or studies abroad and turned down lucrative jobs in administration, to teach at the University with no guarantee of income. Most are new to university teaching and are in need of professional training in course development, assessment, research methods, teaching styles and course administration.

Some staff resigned to take up positions elsewhere. The Rector Armindo Maia is now the Minister for Education, Culture Youth & Sports. The Head of the Political Science Faculty, Vicente Faria is now a member of the National Parliament. Others have taken up government positions. All hands are needed on deck.

Teaching and Research

There are five faculties – Agriculture, Political Science, Economics, Education & Teacher Training and Engineering. New students study a generalist course including human rights, ethics, philosophy of science and Timorese history.

The National Research Center and Institute of Linguistics were opened in July 2001. The Research Centre will support the work of the University faculties. The new national university needs to attract support for research activities to address many of the problems facing East Timor. The National Institute of Linguistics will promote the development of the Tetum language.

An Institute for English language training will be introduced over the next few years.

Long-term planning includes the development of a number of other faculties and courses, including Health Sciences, Legal Studies, Media & Communications, Accountancy, Fisheries, Architecture, Physics, Chemistry and Timor Studies.

The bridging courses include studies in English, Portuguese, computing, philosophy and the history of East Timor – they are seen as a way of overcoming the poor quality of secondary education under the Indonesians and the interrupted education of students involved in preparations for the independence ballot and the effective shut down of the education system in 1999 and 2000.