DILI, 02 february 2023 (TATOLI)– The Director of Farol Elementary School, Filomena Fatima Belo Freitas, asked the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) to build additional classrooms for students at Farol.
“I ask the Government through MoEYS to add more classrooms because currently, we have 21 classrooms which are not enough to accommodate all of them, currently we have 2,221 students, where one room can accommodate 50-60 students, therefore six additional classrooms are needed to cover all students by 2023,” Filomena Freitas told TATOLI at her office in Farol, Dili.
According to Freitas, currently, the teaching and learning process for the 2023 school year has started, therefore to guarantee the quality of education the government must invest more in the education sector to ensure adequate school facilities and infrastructure.
“A total of 21 other rooms at the Farol School were destroyed and did not support the teaching and learning process because the walls, ceilings, windows were all damaged and also many tables and chairs were damaged and no longer used,” She said.
Related to this issue, the Director of School Infrastructure of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, Agustinho Soares acknowledged that many schools in the national territory were damaged, saying therefore the schools that have been damaged will be constructed gradually.
“We have constructed 16 schools in Dili Municipality and we will continue to construct another 11 schools in Dili including the Elementary school of Farol in 2023,’’ he concluded.
So far the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports through the School Infrastructures had constructed 228 school buildings in the national territory using the 2022 State budget worth $ 29 million and had finalized 92 schools building and the other schools are still in an ongoing project.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Nelia Borges
