East Timor, a Jesuit high school to ensure the nation a "better future"
Dili (AsiaNews) - A school founded "to be an integral part" of the project the growth of the nation and that intends to "fully cooperate" with the Ministry of Education and with "all national forces to prepare a better future" for its citizens. With these words, Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, Superior General of the Jesuits, inaugurated the school year at the College of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Kasait , a town west of Dili, capital of East Timor. The leader of the global religious order explains that the project was not born with sole purpose of continuing the theme of education in the Jesuit tradition, but aimed specifically at the development of the nation. Moreover the first missionaries, who arrived in the area over a hundred years ago, immediately promoted programs for education.
Last week, the Superior General was as guest of honor at the opening of the school. Those present included Education Minister Bendito Dos Santos Freita, Welfare Minister Isabel Guterres , the Bishop of Dili Alberto Ricardo da Silva, numerous ambassadors and representatives of religious congregations. Including students and their families, there were more than 500 people took part in the event.
Located in Kasait, a rural area about an hour's drive from Dili, the project comprises of a secondary school, Colégio, which took in its first intake of Year 7 students in January 2013, and a teacher training institute, which is set to open in January 2016. The project is expected to be completed in another 10 years, with scope for further expansion, and once completed will accommodate up to 540 students , divided into six different sections .
In his speech, the Minister of Education said that since achieving independence in 2002, "successive governments were confronted by the need to reconstruct totally an education system which would not just contribute to economic development, but would be relevant to and help to build the national identity". Stressing the merits of the Jesuits in the education sector, Bendito Freita Dos Santos added that " a hallmark of Jesuit education is its capacity to form citizens who are aware and responsible regarding society and their role in it: citizens who become models of ethical conduct, who reinforce the social structures and who give vitality to Christian and human values".
East Timor - once part of the Indonesian archipelago and independent since 2002 - is the only Asian country, along with the Philippines, to have a majority Christian population. Almost 90 % are Catholics, about 5% Muslims followed by (3%), Buddhists, Hindus and animists . Of the 1.1 million Timorese, more than 40% live below the poverty line. Added to this is a high rate of unemployment in urban areas, particularly among young people. Rural areas are equally affected by poverty: families survive on subsistence farming and depend on foreign food aid.
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