1. Timor-Leste AME EDUCATION SECTOR PROFILE

2. Education Structure Timor-Leste Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, World Bank EdStats Education System Structure and Enrollments 2006

3. Education Structure Source: UNESCO UIS, World Bank EdStats Timor-Leste Almost 30% of children enrolled in primary education are over-age for their grade of attendance. % Net Enrollments % Gross Enrollments ClassificationLevel/GradeAges2006 2005 Pre-primaryPre-school 4-5N/A 10% Pre- university Primary, grades 1-6 6-1163% 91%* Lower Secondary, grades 7-9 12-14 35.0%68% Upper Secondary, grades 10-1215-17 23.0%37% TVET Secondary, grades 10-1215-17 N/A4% Tertiary Post secondary study18-22N/A 10%** * Primary gross enrollment data from 2007. * *Tertiary data from 2002..

4. Population Structure Timor-Leste Source: T-L Living Standard Survey 2001, CIA Factbook, UNESCO 2008 74% of the population of Timor-Leste is under 25 years old. With country fertility rate of 3% yearly, the youthful proportion of the population will continue to pressure the education system for another decade or more.

5. Relevant Policies: 1. National Development Plan 2002 2. Strategic Plan for Universal Primary Completion by 2015, 2005 3. Education and Training: Priorities and Proposed Sector Investment Program 2005 4. EFA Fast Track Initiative Award, $8.2 million, 2006-2008 www.educationfasttrack.org www.educationfasttrack.org Policies are available at: http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/format_liste1_en.php?Chp2=Tajikistan Education Policy Timor-Leste

6. Education Access: Pre-university All levels of education are increasing enrollments. Secondary level is increasing at a faster rate, 18.7%, than primary level at 11.3%. Source: UNESCO UIS, World Bank EdStats Timor-Leste

7. Education Access: Tertiary Timor-Leste Tertiary enrollment information for Timor-Leste is very limited. The single public university, the National University of East Timor, re-opened in 2000 and continues to receive heavy donor support. A single data entry for tertiary education is available: 6,349 individuals were enrolled at the public university in 2002. 18 private institutions offer tertiary education of varying degrees of quality due to a lack of regulatory mechanisms in place. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Google.com

8. Education Access: Gender Girls’ and boys’ enrollments appear to be dropping at nearly an equal rate. Gender parity at this level is.96. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. World Bank EdStats Timor-Leste

9. Education Access: Gender Females and males have made similar enrollment gains at lower secondary since 2000 (16.7% and 17.3% respectively). Females at upper secondary do not enroll in large numbers. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics Timor-Leste

10. Education Quality : Teachers Timor-Leste Source: T-L Primary School Achievement Study 2003, UNESCO (2008) The majority of teachers (66%) have upper secondary or post- secondary technical-vocational education. The majority of teacher training is offered by small private universities and NGOs and is of sometimes dubious quality.

11. Education Quality: Completion Primary completion information is reported for one year: 2007. Less than 50% of primary children complete grade 6. Girls and boys complete primary education in equal numbers. Timor-Leste Source: World Bank EdStats

12. Education Quality: Testing Source: World Bank (2004) Education Since Independence Timor-Leste Timor-Leste has not participated in TIMSS. In 2003, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports conducted a Primary School Achievement Survey for math with 3 rd and 4 th graders. Third graders answered 28% and 4 th graders answered 37% of questions correctly suggesting that children are not learning grade-appropriate knowledge in math.

13. Education Equity: Gender/ Geographic Disparities Timor-Leste Almost 85% of out-of-school children are from rural areas which also contain the largest proportion of children in the country. Dili/ Baucau Other Urban Rural Center Rural East Rural West % of school age population 12.59.939.818.818.9 % of out-of-school children 8.07.445.920.618.1 Source: T-L Living Standard Survey 2001

14. Education Equity: Income Disparities Source: T-L Living Standard Survey 2001 Timor-Leste The largest proportion of out-of-school children are the poorest and youngest. 32% of the poorest and 26% of the richest out-of-school children, aged 7-12, say they have ‘no interest’ to be in school.

15. Education Equity: Academic Disparities Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics Timor-Leste Timor-Leste does not focus extensively on technical and vocational training programs at the secondary level. 20042005 General academic programs 95.5%96.3% Technical/vocational programs 4.5%3.7% Total Students 7300574822

16. Education Efficiency: Expenditure Source: World Bank Education at a Glance Timor-Leste Timor-Leste is the biggest spender in the region on education as a percentage of GDP and public money.

17. Education Efficiency: Expenditure The education budget in Timor-Leste is almost equally divided among levels. Source: World Bank EdStats Timor-Leste

18. Education Efficiency: Repetition Source: World Bank 2008 Timor-Leste Repetition is a serious problem despite the high rates of funding the country allocates to education.

19. Education Efficiency: Repetition Source: World Bank 2008 Timor-Leste Between 20-25% of primary students repeat grades.

20. Education Efficiency: Private Tutoring No information about private tutoring is available. Volunteer teachers in the system however, remain an issue at all levels. Volunteers are paid by parents and school-raised funds and are often of poor academic quality. One in three teachers at the senior secondary level is a volunteer as the government has difficulty recruiting qualified candidates for secondary education posts. Source: World Bank (2004) Timor-Leste

21. Education: Conclusion Successes: Access: Increasing enrollments at all pre-university levels. Quality: Equity: Gender parity at primary. Efficiency: High level of education funding and well-divided between levels. Challenges: Access: Declining primary enrollments and low completion rates. Low tertiary capacity. Quality: Poor teacher academic qualifications. High rates of repetition and drop-out all levels. Equity: Low primary access rate for low income and rural groups. Low female access rate at upper secondary. Efficiency: A system of ‘volunteer ‘ teachers all levels especially upper secondary. Timor-Leste