Timor Leste is one of the poorest nations in the world, ranking 162th out of 182 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index.  The population is one of the fastest growing in the world, with women having an average of 5.7 children each.  Over half of the population lives below the poverty line of less than one dollar per day.  Most of those living below the poverty line reside in rural areas.  Agricultural productivity is low and food insecurity affects up to 80% of households in some districts.  In the districts where Save the Children’s program focuses, mortality rates for children aged under 5 are 9.7% in Ainaro and 8.6% in Manufahi.

Chronic malnutrition among Timor-Leste children is 58% moderately stunted with more than one in three children severely stunted.  Acute Malnutrition or wasting (thinness) is also high with 19% of children under five wasted and 7% being severely wasted.  18% of Timorese children between 12 and 23 months of age are wasted.  45% of children between 0 – 5 are underweight for their age and 15% are severely underweight for age ¹.  Causes contributing to poor nutrition status include low parental education levels, low levels of exclusive breast feeding, cultural and spiritually linked food utilisation practices, low agricultural productivity as well as limited access to clean water and road and health infrastructure.

Save the Children involvement in Timor Leste

Save the Children are delighted to announce the introduction of the Safe Pre-Primary Access Project funded by The Charitable Foundation (TCF). It is a 2-year project designed to address the fact that only 5-10% of Timorese children currently have access to pre-primary education (4-6 years).  The provision of early childhood education is an essential foundation for the future educational, social and emotional wellbeing of children.

The project will increase access to, and attendance in, pre-primary education by constructing new facilities and improving existing facilities.  We will work with children, teachers and parents to make facilities safe and raise awareness of the importance of good hygiene practices both at school and in their own homes.  We will also increase community and council awareness of issues around the rights of all children to protection and to the provision of quality education.

The project will directly benefit a total of 700 children currently attending pre-primary and an additional 700 who will begin to attend pre-primary school following construction and rehabilitation, 2800 parents, 400 community leaders, of whom approximately 50% are female.

Indirect beneficiaries include the broader communities in target villages (16,000 for Manufahi, 29,000 for Ainaro).  All activities will be conducted in 10 villages (sucos) in Manufahi District and 9 villages (sucos) in Ainaro District.  Indirect beneficiaries will also include local, regional and national government representatives who will benefit by having direct involvement and ownership of high quality and safe pre-school facilities, primary school teachers who will later enroll children who are well equipped with basic literacy, numeracy and social skills as well as communities and small businesses who will be involved in the construction/rehabilitation of facilities.

The current educational situation for children in Timor-Leste

Currently, only 5-10% of Timorese children have access to pre-primary education (4-6 years).  The provision of early childhood education is an essential foundation for the future educational, social and emotional wellbeing of children.  Children who attend pre-primary school are less likely to need to repeat their first year at primary school because they have been introduced to key concepts in their mother tongue, are better able to settle, to concentrate and are already familiar with letters and numbers.

The government acknowledges the importance of preparing children to attend primary school at 6, where drop out and repetition rates are very high – some 22% of children repeat grade 1 and only 47% of those enrolling in primary school, graduate but says it does not currently have the capacity to act.  A recent reading survey showed that more than 70% of children at the end of Grade 1(first year of primary school) could not read a single word they were asked to and by the end of grade 3, 20% were still unable to read even the simplest of words ².  Being unable to read contributes to the high number of children who repeat or drop out of school and who do not return to education.  Between a quarter and a third of children in Timor-Leste do not attend school and go on to be non-literate adults.  That same report notes that one quarter of the parents of children in Grades 1-3 were non-literate and studies worldwide show the correlation between non-literate mothers and the health and well being of their children.

Illiteracy and a lack of education hinders key areas of development, adversely impacts on health (especially maternal and child health), mitigates against a culture supportive of education, sustainable economic activity and more participatory governance, and places significant constraints on local development and poverty reduction ³.

Pre primary facilities in Manufahi and Ainaro range from a traditional palm frond roof over a dirt floor and no walls to reasonably well appointed dual purpose spaces provided by the church.  Some facilities are located in old government buildings on former transmigration sites, far away from villages which also discourages attendance and parental involvement in their children’s education.  Many are dangerous places, with broken floors, collapsing roofs, with no outdoor play spaces and where such play spaces exist, they are shared with goats, sheep and cows.  Doors and windows are broken and fences either inadequate or non-existent so there is little security for any equipment they might possess.  With few water and sanitation facilities, children have little opportunity to learn good hygiene practices.

 ¹ Demographic Health Survey 2010 Preliminary Results, National Statistics Directorate,  Ministry of Finance, Timor-Leste
² Timor-Leste An Analysis of Early Grade Reading Acquisition, World Bank report 2009.
³ Boughton, B. and D. Durnan, “Adult Literacy and National Development: International Perspectives,” in RDTL and Oxfam, Report on the First National Literacy Conference in Timor-Leste, 15 Sep 2004, Oxfam, 2005, pp. 9-23.