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By Danielle Chen, Education Officer, Corporate Communications
Division |
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I visited two village schools on the island. School started
at 8 a.m in the morning with a flag-raising ceremony just like
in Singapore, but ended at noon in Atauro. On average, 380 children
aged six to 16 attended each school.
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| Children
at a colouring contest at the school in Bikeli. |
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Both schools housed no more than six teachers each. They were
mostly men in their early forties. I realised that to each teacher
there were 60 to 70 students, a ratio that concurred with United
Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) average for schools in East
Timor.
Watching three to four children of varying ages share one desk,
dressed in nothing more than what they slept in at home, I was
struck by the stark difference with Singapore’s education system.
I told Gabrielle Marquez about my observations, and asked her
what were the ambitions of the girls of Atauro island.
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| Gabrielle,
with Roman Luan worker Marcello on her right. |
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Gabrielle – an Australian who had moved to Atauro nine years
ago to head Roman Luan, the local Non Government Organisation
– replied, “Quite frankly, what options can they have? The boys
will mostly follow their fathers to become fishermen and craftsmen;
the women stay at home and be mothers.”
With limited resources, the teachers were doing an admirable
job. I will bring back with me the memory of being brought to
tears, on the day we visited the school in Bikeli, when the
children sang their national anthem for us. They sang it with
a gusto and joy that would quite frankly put some of our school-going
children to shame.
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| Children
at class in the school in Villa. |
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