KOICA-UNESCO Sign Remote Education Project Agreement for East Timor

Remote Education via TV Amid School Closures Due to COVID-19 in East Timor

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on the 19th (local time) to cooperate on a remote science education project in Timor-Leste, agreeing to develop local educational broadcasting content and conduct teacher training related to remote instruction.

The signing ceremony, held online, was attended by Kim Sik-hyun, head of KOICA's Timor-Leste office, and Shahbaz Khan, UNESCO Jakarta director (also in charge of Timor-Leste).

This support project was promoted under the ABC program led by KOICA as part of the Korean government's "ODA KOREA: Building TRUST" initiative for development cooperation toward a safer world for all.

Timor-Leste has been under a national emergency system since March to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and most schools have been closed or operating on alternate weeks, making it difficult to provide quality educational services.

The Ministry of Education of Timor-Leste provides remote education for students in basic education (grades 1?9) via TV; however, due to a lack of TV educational content and teachers' remote teaching capabilities, the effectiveness of remote education remains minimal.

Under this agreement, KOICA and UNESCO will develop science educational broadcasting content for students and teachers to support remote education via TV. Educational broadcasts will be produced and aired targeting 90,000 Timor-Leste students in grades 7?9, enabling them to gain a deep understanding of biology and the environment, as well as teaching methods to respond to infectious diseases including COVID-19. Additionally, training related to remote instruction will be provided to approximately 8,000 teachers. Through this, both organizations aim to contribute to alleviating educational disparities in Timor-Leste amid the COVID-19 situation.

Meanwhile, the two organizations previously collaborated from 2014 to 2017 to develop Timor-Leste's mathematics and science curricula, and the science educational content already developed will be utilized in this remote education initiative.

Kim Sik-hyun, head of KOICA's Timor-Leste office, stated, "The impact of COVID-19 affects not only health but also education, livelihoods, and all aspects of our lives. By integrating the previously developed mathematics and science curricula with remote education, we will provide quality educational services even in crisis situations and enhance COVID-19 response capabilities among children and youth vulnerable to infectious diseases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.