Training for Community Leaders of Potential Community Learning Centres (CLCs) on Basic Concept, Structure and Management of CLCs

A total of 55 community leaders and officers of the newly organized Community Learning Centers (CLCs) from 5 districts of Timor-Leste attended the 5-day Training for Community Leaders of Potential Community Learning Centres (CLCs) on the Basic Concept, Structure and Management of CLCs held at the Auditorium of the National Directorate for Recurrent Education in Vila Verde, Dili, Timor-Leste which commenced 18 November 2013 and will conclude on 22 November 2013. There will be 7 new community learning centres in 7 villages from the 5 districts of Baucau, Manatuto, Ermera, Aileu and Dili who are participants of this training.

The general objective of the training is to socialize to the leader-participants the concepts of a Community Learning Center and its specific objectives are for the participants to understand the concepts, function, activities and benefits of a CLC; to understand the process of establishing and developing the structure and administrative and management systems of a CLC; to understand how to mobilize the community to acquire their participation and ownership of the CLC ; to understand the system of implementation of CLC activities that relate to its costs, financing and sustainability; to gain knowledge on how to strengthen CLCs through development, establishment, and expansion of linkages and networking and; to gain skills on how to conduct CLCs’ role in monitoring and documentation and how to conduct District Coordinators’ and Sub-District Coordinators’ roles in monitoring, documentation, and in providing feedbacks.

The Director General for Pre-School and Basic Education of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Cidalio Leite officially opened the training together with the newly appointed Director of the National Directorate for Recurrent Education (NDRE), Mr. Mario Antonio Ximenes da Costa accompanied by the two Department Chiefs of NDRE together with Ms. Nurhajati Sugianto of UNESCO Office, Jakarta. Director General Cidalio Leite in his opening speech encouraged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity and maximize the training as this will help them establish their CLCs that will serve its basic purpose of assisting their communities access non-formal education and improve their livelihood for the general welfare and development of the people of their communities. Ms. Sugianto explained also the important role of CLCs in developing the human resources of the community by implementing programmes that respond to the needs of all the members of the community from small children, youths and adult population of the community.

The resource persons of the training which facilitated the specific topics to achieve its objectives included Mr. Buhai Simanjuntak, Chairperson of the Advisory Committee to the Indonesian CLC Communication Forum and Chairman of the International CLC Association who was engaged to provide inputs specifically in the area of community mobilization to ensure participation and ownership of the CLCs; implementation of the CLC activities and its costs, financing and sustainability and; the process to strengthen the CLCs through linkages and networking. Three (3) national staff of the National Directorate for Recurrent Education who are part
of the team of the CLC Programme are also facilitators and trainors of the training namely: Mr. Adalfredo de Almeida (National Advisor of NDRE); Mr. Francisco Amaral (Section Chief of CLC Programme) and Mr. Raimundo Braz (Technical Assistant of CLC Programme). The training will also facilitate the participants to come up with a specific Action Plan in order to proceed with the process of developing their CLCs further that eventually these CLCs will be formally established in their respective areas.

With the addition of the 7 new CLCs, the National Directorate for Recurrent Education will have now 10 CLCs at the end of 2013 including the 3-UNESCO initiated CLCs which are considered as pilot CLCs in Timor-Leste. UNESCO Jakarta Office collaborates closely with the Ministry of Education in Timor-Leste through the National Directorate for Recurrent Education (NDRE) in implementing the Capacity Development for Education for All (CapEFA) Project of UNESCO Jakarta Office in partnership with NDRE of the Ministry of Education in Timor-Leste.

• 19-11-2013