Mother Tongues in Timor

This press release on Friday came from the Komisaun Nasional Edukasaun:

PRESS RELEASE
18 February, 2011

International Mother Language Day will be observed in Timor-Leste this year with the launch of a national debate on the “Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy for Timor-Leste”.

The policy was drafted by the Language in Education Working Group of the National Education Commission of Timor-Leste, with technical assistance provided by international Language-in-Education experts, Dr Carol Benson (Stockholm University) and Professor Joe Lo Bianco (Melbourne University) and a team of education specialists from Australia and the Ministry of Education of Portugal. It aims to:
Help children from all ethno-linguistic backgrounds to have access to the benefits of literacy and education;
 Assist the Government of Timor-Leste to meet the educational objectives defined in the National Education Strategic Plan and the Millennium Development Goals;
Preserve cultural and linguistic diversity as a means to achieving national unity, Peace and equitable development, as stipulated in the Constitution of the RDTL.
“50 years of research by UNESCO and other international organizations has demonstrated clearly that children acquire basic literacy skills best when the language of instruction in schools is the students’ home language or mother tongue”, says National Education Commission Chair, Ms Kirsty Sword Gusmão. “A strong early foundation in a child’s first language also facilitates learning of the official languages, in Timor-Leste’s case Tetum and Portuguese”, she adds.

Much progress has been made in Timor-Leste over the last 10 years since independence to deliver educational services to the nation’s children, with hundreds of new schools having been built, others rehabilitated and nation-wide teacher training being provided to the country’s educators. Nevertheless, much remains to be done to address high student drop-out rates and to ensure that school curriculum and learning materials are relevant to the lives and ethno-linguistic circumstances of students, many of whom speak one of some 20 indigenous languages at home and have minimal fluency in either of the official languages.

“The Ministry of Education is to be warmly congratulated for having supported this important policy initiative”, says UNICEF’s Representative in Timor-Leste, Mr Jun Kukita. “Language is at the heart of education. Mother tongue-based multilingual education is recognised internationally as an effective way of helping children to learn, whilst at the same time contributing to linguistic preservation, a strong sense of national identity, and enhanced community participation in the educational experiences of students”.

The launch of the national debate will take place at the Hotel Timor, Dili, at 11 am on Monday 21 February. For further information, please contact Mr Agustinho Caet (Language in Education Advisor, Ministry of Education) on +670-753 6739.

It will put you in the picture a little when, over the next few days, I share with you details of book #3.