School students and teachers in Oé-Cusse will have the opportunity to gain fundamental ICT skills following the official handover of the newly renovated Etaro ICT lab on October 2, 2020.

The ceremony celebrated the opening of the lab and completion of two intensive training programs for 31 students and 28 teachers. The lab is part of the UNDP “Leveraging ICT to Improve Education and Skills in Timor-Leste” project in partnership with the Oecusse Regional Administration (RAEOA-ZEESM TL) and funded by the India-UN Development Partnership Fund.

The ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Arsenio Bano, President of the Authority of RAEOA; Ms. Abelina Da Costa, Regional Secretary of Education and Solidarity (SRESS); Mr. Jose Eta, Regional Secretary of Agriculture and Mr. Daniel Mauno, Director of Education of RAEOA. Attendees toured the Etaro ICT lab and witnessed the distribution of certificates of completion to participants of the training programs.

The teacher training aims to enhance delivery of ICT courses, with a student-centred methodology for developing teaching skills for teachers on general concepts in ICT, office programs, email and the internet.

By focusing on improving computer literacy, teachers can use the internet to access information, communications and facilitate experiments to improve the student learning experience.

Students in the ICT innovation and experimentation course engaged with basic computer programming and applied science. They were introduced to innovative and practical ideas for using ICT in the classroom and their lives.

Students showcased their new skills by operating robots programmed with unique robotic functions controlled by their smartphones and laptops.

The installation of the Etaro ICT lab represents RAEOA’s commitment to establishing ICT education infrastructure to provide life and employment skills for Oé-Cusse’s youth. ICT in schools improves access to opportunities they might otherwise be excluded from.

The lab acts as a resource for teaching staff and schools to facilitate the learning process and a destination for students to interact and experiment with technology. The infrastructure will contribute to children and young people in Oé-Cusse accessing their right to 21^st century education and technology in an inclusive environment.