Page 1452 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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However, the challenge for the East Timorese did not stop and has not stopped with independence. This country in its infancy is charged with the task of rebuilding a community devastated by decades of war. This rebuild has not been without its own tensions. This is a recovering war zone, a fact that cannot be overlooked when considering the East Timorese transition from colony to forced annexure to independent nation. Just the other day, one police officer was killed when a mob attacked a government office in a town south-west of Dili. One hundred of the 1,000 antigovernment protestors have been arrested. There is still a long way to go until the scars of war are faded, but this does not mean that you give up.
Central to the rebuilding of East Timor is education. It was Benjamin Disraeli who said, “Upon the education of people in this country, the fate of this country depends.” This is a sentiment not lost on the Stanhope government. On 7 June 2004, the Chief Minister signed the Canberra-Dili friendship agreement with the Dili district ambassador, Mr Ruben de Carvalho. The agreement has a focus on encouraging mutual respect and cooperation through initiatives promoting educational, cultural, economic, humanitarian and sporting links. The Canberra Friends of Dili, a local organisation, the ACT Department of Education and Training and the Australian Education Union are working together to support the education system in Dili in the best and most appropriate way.
The friendship schools program was launched at Calwell high school in July 2005 to celebrate Calwell’s linkage with 30 de Agosta high school in Dili. An ACT Department of Education and Training representative spent a day with Siobhan Hobbs, Australia’s youth ambassador to Dili, in February 2006, visiting Calwell high and Lyneham primary schools before meeting with the central office staff.
The Tuggeranong high school consortium—Calwell, Caroline Chisholm, Kambah, Lanyon and Wanniassa high schools—met with a representative of the ACT Department of Education and Training, Tim McNevin of the Australian Education Union and me on 23 February this year to discuss the Dili friendship schools program. Immediate strategies organised at the February 2006 meeting of the consortium included discussing opportunities for English language instructions with the ESL network, carrying out an audit of curriculum text books in cluster schools and considering opportunities to involve Tuggeranong community groups.
Short-term strategies from the meeting include: schools to collect a significant quantity of exercise books, pens, pencils, and some textbooks to be sent in July this year; to publicise information through each school’s student representative council, SRC, and slide shows at whole-of-school assemblies; and, thirdly, to develop the sport-in-schools program to involve Dili schools and to send sports equipment.
On Friday last week Tuggeranong student representative councillors met to discuss how students can promote the friendship agreement through their peers and peer support structures. I was very fortunate to address this group about the friendship agreement and the importance of leadership in making the aims of this agreement a reality within their schools. These students addressed how they may use their leadership skills to encourage friends and relatives to get involved, extending the friendship schools to the Canberra community.
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