Final
Report: 41st SEAMEO Council Conference
The Swissotel the Stamford
Republic of Singapore
22-23 March 2006
The Swissotel the Stamford
Republic of Singapore
22-23 March 2006
Proceedings
Contents |
| Proceedings |
| Appendices |
Appendix
4.3.15 |
Address by H E Mr Armindo Maia Minister of Education and Culture Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on the occasion of the accession of Timor-Leste as a full member of SEAMEO |
| H E the Deputy
Prime-Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Prof S Jayakumar H E the Minister of Education and Training of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and SEAMEO President, Prof Dr Nguyen Minh Hien, represented by Prof Dr Tran Van Nhung, Deputy-Minister of Education and Training, H E the Minister for Education of Singapore and SEAMEO Vice-President, Dr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Excellencies the Ministers of Education, Members of SEAMEO, Distinguished Delegates, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, |
It
is a great pleasure to be honored to address today this high-level
meeting of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization
on this special and historic occasion of the accession of Timor-Leste
as a new member of this organization. On behalf of the Government
and the people of Timor-Leste I wish to express our sincerest gratitude
for the openness, friendship and support we have always received
from all Member Countries, right from our very first participation
as an observer in Manila in 2003. We are extremely proud and delighted
that in less than four years after the international recognition
of our independence, we are given the honor to sit side by side
with other fellow ministers as a full member of the organization. |
On
this special occasion, allow me first of all, to thank particularly
HE Prof Dr Nguyen Minh Hien, the Minister of Education of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam and current President of SEAMEO, for making
everything possible our accession to full membership during his
presidency. Our participation in last year’s SEAMEO meeting
in Hanoi has been, indeed, a memorable one and, above all, fruitful.
|
Let
me also take this opportunity to greet and thank Dr Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
the Minister of Education of Singapore and Vice-President of SEAMEO
for the warm and generous hospitality and excellent arrangement
provided to my delegation, since our arrival in this beautiful and
warm island-city of Singapore. |
Allow
me also to take this opportunity to greet the Director of SEAMEC,
Dr Edilberto de Jesus, for his particular contribution in supporting
our desire to become a SEAMEO member since our first participation
in Manila, on his invitation, both on a personal level and in his
capacity as the incumbent SEAMEO President. |
| Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, |
Timor-Leste
is the youngest country in the world and in Southeast Asia. It is
also the poorest country in Asia. The adult literacy rate is less
than 50%. More than 20% of the primary school-age children still
do not have access to school, aggravated by high repetition and
drop-out rates. In the secondary level, the figures show some improvements,
but still fall far short in terms of quality; so does in tertiary
education. |
Nonetheless
this seemingly gloomy picture, Timor-Leste has made significant
progress in the last few years. The UNDP 2005 Human Development
Report commended the country for her achievements in the social
indicators, allowing the country to jump ahead of 18 other countries.
Improvements in Education and health indicators were the determinant
factors for the leap. To achieve the goal of universal primary education,
we have embarked on a free education program, starting this current
year for all primary schools across the country. In the next school
year, all the secondary schools will be covered by the same program.
School grants and school meals are been piloted, expected to cover
all the primary schools in 2-3 years. |
Concurrently,
we are about to embark on a nation-wide adult literacy campaign,
targeting the rural population, with the aim to eliminate illiteracy
in the whole country within the next 5 years. |
| Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen |
As
a new member and the youngest, we need to learn much from the experience
and achievements of others. One advantage of a new nation is to
learn from the successes and mistakes of others in one hand and
try to implement the best international practices on the other.
We do strongly believe that our fellow member countries of SEAMEO
will share with us their experiences and continue to offer their
support to this crucially important area of education. In this connection,
I wish to take this opportunity to express our greatest appreciation
for the support provided through SEARCA by DAAD, Germany for the
upgrading of some of our lecturers’ qualification in the area
of Agriculture. We are committed to meet all our obligations and
responsibilities as a member country, in spite of constraints in
our human resources. With your continuous guidance and support we
will walk together through the same path, aiming at the common goal
of betterment of the quality of life of all our people. |
| Thank you. |
