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--></style><title>New book chapter on education in
Timor-Leste</title></head><body>
<div><font color="#000000">Boughton, B. (2013). Timor-Leste:
Education, decolonisation and development. In L. Symaco (Ed.),<i>
Education in South East Asia</i> (pp. 299-321). London:
Continuum.</font></div>
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<div><font color="#000000"><b>Introduction</b></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">In May 2002, Timor-Leste became the first
country in the world to achieve its independence in the 21st Century,
ending over four hundred years of colonial rule which had begun with
the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. In 1974-5, a
revolution in Portugal prompted a short-lived attempt by FRETILIN, the
political party which founded the Timor-Leste independence movement,
to decolonise the education system, but this was aborted by the
military invasion and occupation of the country by its largest
neighbour, the Republic of Indonesia in December 1975. Independence
was finally won only after a protracted war of national liberation
forced the eventual withdrawal of the Indonesians in September 1999,
and a period of direct rule of the United Nations until 2002 (Cabral
2002). For ten years, now, this tiny country of one million people,
occupying the eastern half of a rugged island six hundred
kilometres north of Australia, has struggled to build its first
fully-developed independent education system, out of the ruins left by
colonialism and war. However, unlike many other ex-colonies which
achieved independence in the second half of the last century, the
newly emerging education system in Timor-Leste has been the site of a
major multinational aid and reconstruction effort, initially
coordinated by the United Nations and the World Bank. Its recent
history therefore provides an object lesson in the role of
international actors in educational development in countries of the
Global South.</font></div>
<div>-- <br>
Dr. Bob Boughton<br>
Associate Professor, Adult Education & Training<br>
School of Education<br>
University of New England<br>
Armidale NSW 2351, Australia<br>
<br>
phone:<x-tab> </x-tab>+61 2
67732913/66492642<br>
email: bob.boughton@une.edu.au<br>
<br>
The UNE Branch of the NTEU is engaged in industrial action commencing
4th March 2013. In solidarity with this action, I am not working
(unpaid) overtime, and I can allocate no more than 20% of my time to
administration. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may
cause.<br>
<br>
For more information, please go to
<http://www.nteu.org.au/une>http://www.nteu.org.au/une<br>
<br>
<br>
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