Education Ministry from East Timor’s Democratic Republic signs a protocol with GesEntrepreneur to curriculum development and teacher training, in entrepreneurship, of technical-vocational education system of East Timor.
Me and Virgílio Simith, Timor’s Secondary Education Deputy Minister
The government from the East Timor’s Democratic Republic, through the Education Ministry (ME-RDTL), decided to adopt a professional teaching model based in the double certification, educational and professional, also to bet in entrepreneurship training, to encourage the economic and sustained development of the country.
According to this important aim, and after making several work meetings throughout 2012 and 2013, between the responsible of East Timor’s Education Ministry and GesEntrepreneur’s, this morning we signed, in Lisbon, a Cooperation Protocol having in mind the following activities performed by Gesentrepreneur:
a) Development of entrepreneurship curriculum for the technical-vocational educational system based of Timor’s reality;
b) Elaboration of Guidebooks for teachers and Textbooks for students for the 3 years, namely 10th, 11th and 12th year;
c) Training for Timor’s trainers in entrepreneurship curriculum, namely the teachers that are based in the technical-vocational secondary teaching;
d) Local follow-up of the project.
For that, East Timor’s Secondary Education Deputy Minister says: “there’s a need to contribute – via implementing, in our Education System, methods that help raise awareness for the entrepreneurial spirit – so that the young Timorese after reaching the end of their school path can reach labour world with an entrepreneurial attitude that allows them to win, on their own, or even under others.”
This fact is so or more important when we know that at this Age in which we live in, it’s the small businesses and individuals that put emphasis in self—confidence that will guide the economic growth and will create the new job opportunities. If the aim is economic growth and sustainable development, then the way may be, and should be, Entrepreneurship, concludes Virgílio Simith.
To Francisco Banha, Founder and Executive Director of GesEntrepreneur, “it’s a pleasure that our organization has been selected, by East Timor’s Education Minister, to cooperate in the creation of an educational policy which allows, at medium term, to build an entrepreneurial culture in East Timor. After seven years of hard work in Portugal – which, until now, trained 3200 teachers and 45000 students – to see recognized, at international level, the quality of our teaching methodologies, the entrepreneurial attitude, is a strong motivation to keep dedicating our greatest efforts to create contents that can contribute to make happy the young people to which these programs are directed to.
In fact, by demystifying entrepreneurship, the work philosophy of GesEntrepreneur is based in the learning by doing methodology, giving to students the awareness that the financial means or assets is not more important than the inspiration and the dream that moves the entrepreneur, making him take the first step to act throughout his life due to the abilities and wishes and not according to social, familiar or economic stigmas.
This protocol, made based in the friendship and good faith institutional relationships between the two countries, will be in force for a period of three years and comprises teachers and students of the 21 schools technical-Professional of East Timor.
