Education and Literacy Program 2010 Annual Report

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EDUCATION AND LITERACY PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT

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ANNUAL REPORT 2010

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EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDASAUN ALOLA

DECEMBER 2010


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a. Executive Summary

Fundasaun Alola's Education and Literacy Program seeks to promote best practice teaching and

learning models across Timor-Leste. This involves working with all members of the education

community, Ministry of Education, schools, principles, teachers, students and parents to

advocate the importance of education and how it can directly benefit individuals and communities.

In 2010, Fundasaun Alola continued to work towards its objective to capacity build to expand

opportunities for women through increasing access and quality of education for women and

children in Timor-Leste. In order to achieve this, the Education and Literacy Program delivered

training in teaching methodologies, developed educational resources in local languages and/or

using local materials, and provided scholarships to disadvantaged female students.

b. Program Background

Timor-Leste is a young democracy, and is categorized as one of the poorest countries in the

world. Presently, the Government of Timor-Leste is developing programs to meet the

requirements of its people and promote access to education for all.

Fundasaun Alolas Education and Literacy Program was established in 2003 to assist the people of

Timor-Leste to access quality education, with particular concern for the marginalisation of women.

Fundasaun Alola recognises that in order to improve current education system, NGO's need to

work together with the Ministry of Education to improve teaching methodologies and access to

quality, durable learning materials. The Education and Literacy Program subsequently developed

into three divisions to address three separate identified areas of educational need:

1. The Scholarship Program;2. The Teaching and Learning Program; and3. The Education Resource Centre


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disadvantaged students across Timor-Leste, and donors able to provide financial assistance to

support their education. The collaboration and support of donors plays an important role in

promoting access to education for all.

The main objective of the Scholarship Program is to assist students from an economically

disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their secondary education.

The Program in 2010

In mid-2009, a member of Australia's Friends of Alola undertook an evaluation of the Scholarship

Program, the result of which was a proposal to reposition the scholarship program to support

more girls from remote areas to continue with their secondary to studies, and to provide a

mechanism to promote ongoing awareness in Timor-Leste of the value of womens participation in

education.

Called the Girl Education Award, the recommendations from the evaluation were taken up in

2010, and commenced with three girls from each of the 13 Districts receiving significant

scholarships that allowed them to attend the full three years of secondary school. Through 2010,

Fundasaun Alola continued to provide scholarship funds to existing recipients with a view to

supporting them through to completion of their schooling. This component of the Program will

then be phased out to concentrate on the Award.

Between January and June, The Scholarship

Program set up bank accounts for each student and

processed first payments by bank transfer to 3 new

recipients of the Alola Women's Participation in

Education Award in each of Timor-Leste's 13

districts, as well as existing scholarship recipients

attending Primary School, High School, Secondary


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School and University. Second annual payments were made to each student between July and

December.

Going forward, the Girl Education Award will work closely together with local NGOs, Fundasaun

Alola's Advocacy Program Field Officers and Education Superindentendents in 13 districts.

Number of Beneficiaries

The following table details beneficiaries of the Scholarship Program.

Activity Number of Beneficiaries

Male Female TOTAL

Bank accounts established, annual payments made to support

all educational and living costs

39 39

Annual Payment made for existing Primary School Scholarship

Recipients in 10 schools

9 15 24

Payment made for existing Junior High School Scholarship


9 24 33

Payment made for existing Secondary School Scholarship


27 145 172

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients at the

National University of Timor-Leste

4 61 65

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients at Dili

Institute of Technology

13 30 43

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients at UNPAZ 1 1 2

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients studying in 1 1 2


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Indonesia

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients at Baucau

Teacher's College

2 6 8

Payment made for existing Scholarship Recipients at the

Institute of Canossa

1 1

Payment made for 39 Final Year Undergraduate Students to

complete Final Year Exams in four Faculties (Education,

Agriculture, Engineering and Economics)

39

TOTAL DIRECT BENEFICIARIES 389

D.2. Teaching and Learning Program

Pre-Primary Teacher Training

The Pre-Primary Teacher Training is undertaken in

coordination with the Ministry of Education to nominate,

assess and provide training to teachers in Dili. The Training

is designed to provide training to Pre-Primary teachers in

best practice teaching and learning methodology for early

literacy and numeracy. The teachers undertook unit 107,

'Teacher Professionalism (You are The Teacher)', and unit

109, focusing on art and gender-awareness in the

curriculum.


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The following table details beneficiaries of Pre-Primary Teacher Training.


Male Female TOTAL

Assessed by Fundasaun Alola for Training Needs 2 13 15

The teachers not yet finalized Units 107 and 109 1 5 6

The total teachers attended Pre-Primary Teacher

Training Units 107 and 109

3 18 21

Primary Teacher Training

Fundasaun Alolas Primary Teacher Training maintains focus on numeracy and literacy education,

providing teachers with an improved capacity to deliver

relevant, interactive classroom activities.! This trainingdevelops the teachers knowledge and understanding of

appropriate learning materials and utilising these effectively

in the classroom, with a particular focus on materials

developed by the Ministry of Education, and those natural

materials available to teachers in their immediate

environment. Primary Teacher Training was carried out in

Dili, Baucau, Liquica and Ermera districts.



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! Marinir Primary School ! Rumbia Primary School! Alto Hospital Primary School ! Ai-dak Bihare Primary School! Paiol Primary School ! Tasi-Tolu Primary School! Ai-Turi Laran Primary School ! No. 2 Bidau Masaur Primary School! Caridade Pre-Primary School ! Play Group Comoro Pre-Primary School! Farol Pre-Primary School ! Manleuana Pre-Primary School! Special School Taibesi


The following table details beneficiaries of School Visits.

Activity Number of Beneficiaries (Teache

Male Female TOTAL

School Visits undertaken weekly to 8 Primary Schools

and 4 Pre-Primary Schools

4 8 12

Activity Number of Beneficiaries (Studen

Male Female TOTAL

School Visits undertaken weekly to 8 Primary Schools 1000 1041 2041

School Visits undertaken weekly to 4 Pre-Primary

Schools

349 390 739

School Visit to Special School Taibesi 10 5 15



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Rehabilitation of two Preschool buildings

The Education Program has undertaken

rehabilitation of facilities - Seloi Kraik Preschool in

Aileu district, and Caridade Preschool in Dili

district. Fundasaun Alola identified that the school

buildings, toilets and circumference fence were all

in need of repair. For this reasons, Fundasaun

Alola's Education and Literacy Program undertook

a construction and rehabilitation project. The

teachers from these schools were already

involved in Alolas Pre-Primary Teacher Training,

focused on Literacy and Numeracy (classroom

management, creating local materials based on

Timor-Leste context and centre activities).

In addition, every semester the Education and

Literacy Program undertook weekly visits to the

Caridade Kindergarten to demonstrate good teaching methodology, and teaching and learning

processes such as storytelling, reading, counting, drawing, cut and paste craft, sing a song and

sport. For this reason, the Caridade and Seloi Kraik Preschools were identified as appropriate

schools for rehabilitation.


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The Aileu Seloi Kraik Preschool rehabilitation

project began on the 15th of January and

finished on the 18th of May, 2010. It involved

three builders and two adjutants for 1 building,

and created two classrooms, one store room,

two toilets, and a fence around the building.

The Caridade Preschool rehabilitation project

began on the 7th of June and finished on the

24th of August, 2010, and was completed by

two builders, and four adjutants. The projects

created one classroom, one store room, and a

fence around the building.

Fundasaun Alola identified objectives to:

! Create suitable teaching and learning spaces by rehabilitating school buildings;! To promote student participation in interactive learning, and support child

development through creating suitable teaching and learning spaces;

! To provide teachers with a teaching environment that enables them to bettermanage classroom behaviour and undertake a variety of activities;

! To provide training and resources to preschool teachers to improve their skills andability to provide interactive lessons.


The following table details direct beneficiaries of the rehabilitation project.

Description Number of Beneficiaries (Teachers)


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! To promote the initiative of creating educational materials from local and recycledmaterials;

! To encourage educators to use the languages of Timor-Leste in the teaching and learningprocess, by using Tetun and Portuguese as formal languages in materials; and

! To provide introductory numeracy and literacy learning to young community children withwhom different methodologies can be tested.

Literacy and Numeracy with Community Children

Alolas Education Resource Centre has continued to

deliver before/after school literacy and numeracy

lessons for children and parents in the local

community. These activities are focused on supporting

early numeracy and literacy in children and promoting

their active engagement in education through

community involvement. The program has compoundbenefits as many local parents attend and participate

in the program when their children do. Literacy and

Numeracy sessions are conducted three times weekly

and free of cost. They include on all aspects of learning physical development, fine motor skills,

social development, arts and crafts, and concentrate especially on early numeracy and literacy

skills.


The following table details beneficiaries of Literacy and Numeracy with Community Children.



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Male Female TOTAL

Children attending Numeracy and Literacy activities in

2010

208 218 424

Parents attending Numeracy and Literacy activities in

2010

4 46 50


ERC Visits from Primary Schools

As with the School Visiting Program, school

groups visiting the Education Resource Centre

are provided with interactive lessons that model

active learning and behaviour management

strategies for teachers. The sessions are

undertaken according to formal lesson plans and

involve the use of various resources.


The following table details beneficiaries of Literacy and Numeracy with Community Children.


Male Female TOTAL

Primary school children attending Numeracy and

Literacy activities at ERC (from 20 Schools)

278 284 562


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Mundo Perdido Dinosaur Activities

Dinosaur-themed activities were implemented with visiting

school groups twice weekly at the Presidents Palace in

conjunction with expert staff from Mundo Perdido. Alola hasbeen engaged to assist exhibition staff to improve their capacity

to deliver effective sessions for visiting school groups, and

further develop workshop ideas. The school groups attend for

two hours during which they participate in singing, dancing,

story-telling, games and some numeracy and literacy activities

relating to dinosaurs.


The following table details beneficiaries of Mundo

Perdido Dinosaur Activities:


Male Female TOTAL

Primary school children attending Mundo Perdido

Exhibition and Activities (from 17 schools)

208 217 425

Primary School Teachers attending Mundo 16 30 46

Primary School Teachers attending Numeracy and

Literacy activities at ERC (from 20 Schools)

17 27 44



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Perdido Exhibition and Activities (from 17

Schools)

Community Children attending Mundo Perdido

Exhibition and Activities

23 44 67


Resource Development

The development of educational resources falls

under the banner of the Education Resource

Centre and is geared toward filling a significant

gap in local-language learning resources.

Fundasaun Alola's Education and Literacy

Program is committed to creating materials

that can support children in Timor-Leste with

their early literacy. Fundasaun Alola develops

and publishes children's reader books, and also

undertakes the task of translating selected

English-language books into Tetun. In 2010, Alola received permission to translate and print The

Peasant Prince by Li Cunxin, and subsequently launched the Tetun-language publication on 2

September.

Books Created

The following books were created in 2010:

! Translated and printed one English-language picture book into Tetun;! Developed two book in Timor-Leste Mother tongue languages (to be printed);


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! Completed final drafts of four children's book readers;! Drafted seven learning booklets.

e. Feedback from Beneficiaries

! Ministry of Education District Superintendents have reported that they are impressedwith the Education and Literacy Program activities conducted by Fundasaun Alola as

these go a long way towards capacity building for teachers;

! Feedback from teachers that attend Primary Teacher Training overwhelmingly statesthat teachers feel more capable and confident implementing interactive learning in

their classes and using materials to support their teaching (book readers, local

materials and classroom sets);

! Alola has consistently received positive oral feedback from students, teacherscommunity children and parents that access the Education Resource Centre, and

fields ongoing requests for further services;

! The school visiting and dinosaur activities programs have both receivedoverwhelmingly positive feedback and requests for further interaction with Alola.

! Teachers, parents and the Ministry of Education in Aileu and Dili districts arebeneficiaries of the preschool rehabilitation project, and have expressed that they

are happy and very appreciative of the building work;

f. Monitoring and Evaluation

Program monitoring and evaluation is conducted by formally and informally for all Education and

Literacy program Activities.


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Formal monitoring is undertaken by way of written feedback sought from beneficiaries about their

experience of Alola's training, particularly classroom teachers and other Ministry of Education staff.

Student beneficiaries are engaged in informal processes and encouraged to articulate their

experiences and preferred activities. Alola's staffs conducts direct observations of the engagement

of beneficiaries and engage them in group discussions around the challenges and needs they have

in their schools. Evaluation is undertaken by Alola's staff following implementation of a training or

activity to take into account both written and verbal feedback received from participants, and to

ensure all activities remain relevant and consistent with budget and timeframe plans.

f. Challenges and Opportunities

! Fundasaun Alola Education Programs experience some challenges relating to resistencefrom teachers in engaging with new ideas relating to teaching methodologies and behaviour

management;

! Training Programs are typically delivered to teachers over one or two days which issometimes found to be too short a timeframe to provide teachers with a foundation of skills

and knowledge for effective classroom management and activities;

! It is difficult to shift ideas regarding inclusive education and promote equal access forfemale student and those with disabilities;

! Availiability of staff to conduct training;! Challenges experienced by participants living in more remote areas to attend training in

regional centres.

The Education and Literacy Program seeks to address these challenges by adjusting it's

schedule to minimise the impact of adverse weather conditions on travel to training venues.


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Training is designed to address the fundamental needs and interests of teachers in

attendance. Alola sees great opportunity to further expand its educational programs and

provide services to more people in more communities, and will look to do so as

circumstances and funding become available.

h. Closing Remarks

On behalf of Fundasaun Alolas Education team, I would like to offer sincere thanks to the donors -

government, non-government and individual - who have kindly supported the development and

implementation of the Education and Literacy Programs initiatives, particularly in the districts andremotes areas of Timor-Leste. We appreciate the understanding and flexibility our donors have

shown in 2010, particularly during program implementations and the unforeseen changes. We

would like to mention the following donors:

! MILK Fund! Liv Marte Nordhaug! Andrew McNaughton Foundation! Dentist Group! Rotary Club of Melbourne! Friends of Ballarat! ConocoPhillips! Nelson Bay Rotary! Cmara Municipal de Oliveira de Azemis (Via Fundasaun Xanana Gusmo)! Fast Track Initiative Ministry of Education! Australian Capital Territory! Soroptimist International! Individual donors

And our thanks too to all individual donors we are unable to mention here.


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We look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders and further extend our efforts to

capacity build and expand opportunities for education in Timor-Leste.

Without the support from all parties involved in creating better education for all, the Education and

Literacy Program would not be able to implement initiatives in Timor-Leste. We express our thanks

to all of the teachers, students and parents who have been involved with the Education and

Literacy Program for their support, participation and energy.

In order to sustain and develop our programs, we require a significant amount of support from our

donors and stakeholders. We look forward to working with them in developing and improving

education for the people of Timor-Leste.

Kind regards

Inacia Tamele

Education and Literacy Program Manager

Fundasaun Alola

Documents

Education and Literacy Program 2010 Annual Report