UNTL Curriculum Launch

December was a busy month at the ICFJ compound in Dili as the staff prepared to put the wraps on 2010. By far the biggest event of the month was the handover of the first-ever four year Social Communications curriculum to the National University. In fact, it is the first-ever Social Communications curriculum for Timor-Leste!

The event, held at UNTL (National University of Timor-Leste), was attended by more than 80 guests – including representatives from the university, the Ministry of Education, the U.S. Embassy, USAID, AusAID and UNTL students. The handover ceremony received extensive media coverage, including a report on Timor-Leste’s TVTL.

ICFJ, in partnership with UNTL, developed the curriculum over a ten month period, but had started implementing the program more than two years ago. The Social Communications program at UNTL was launched in late 2008 with 90 students. Today, the program has more than 140 students. In July 2010, ICFJ in partnership with UNTL offered seven Social Communications courses. In the first semester of 2011, eleven courses are to be offered to first, second and third year students.

Dozens of Social Communications students attended the ceremony and at one point – when Jonathan Henick of the U.S. Embassy asked those in the audience to raise their hands if they were students – virtually every hand in the audience went up.

ICFJ Country Director Chuck Rice, speaking at the ceremony, said ICFJ would be supplying the students with two Tetum-language books in 2011. As he made the announcement, the students began to applaud and cheer. There are almost no Tetum-language books available in the Social Communications program.

UNTL Instructors

ICFJ consultant Kleto Nascimento, the developer of the Social Communications curriculum, met in mid-December with all the instructors for the January 2011 semester. In partnership with UNTL, ICFJ will offer eleven courses – including History of Media, Theories of News, Writing and Reporting, Principles of Practical Radio Journalism, Economics and Media, Media Analysis, Photojournalism, Fundamentals of Journalism, Writing in Tetum, and Journalism Ethics.

Among the instructors will be Jose Gabriel, a graduate of ICFJ’s successful TOT (Training of Trainers) program, and Frances Suni, who is an ICFJ staffer with a degree in journalism. Classes are scheduled to begin on February 1. Six instructors will handle the eleven classes.

TOT (Training of Trainers) Graduation

Six TOTs who completed and passed ICFJ’s competency exams graduated from the TOT program on December 6. All six have been part of the program for the past three years. Two other participants received honorary certificates for their hard work in the program. This group of eight TOTs represents various media outlets in Dili, including the Timor Post, The Dili Weekly, Radio Timor Leste, Jornal Nacional Diario and Business Timor.

Each of the graduates will continue to train staff at their own organizations and will also be contracted by ICFJ to provide training in the districts at the five Regional Media Houses (UMRs), located in Ermera, Suai, Baucau, Oecusse and Maubisse.

The TOT program continues with five additional journalists who joined the program in September 2010. These journalists took part in the competency exams in November. The findings will help the trainers gear the program to their needs. The five TOTs will take a final competency exam in the late second quarter of 2011.

National Press Center

The pace of construction of the National Press Center picked up in December with the pouring of the foundation. When completed (planned for the first quarter of 2011), the building will provide office space for five journalism associations. It will also include a training room. The NPC is funded by AusAID.

Departures

December saw the departure of ICFJ consultant Frida Rodelo from the program. Frida had worked on the design and layout of two ICFJ publications and re-worked the Timortoday.com website. She returns to her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. Frida had joined the program in April 2010.

Kleto Nascimento , who developed the Social Communications curriculum for UNTL, also departed Dili in December, returning to his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Kleto came on board in March 2010.ICFJ described the curriculum as a preliminary document; however, Vice Rector Miguel Maia, at the handover ceremony on December 2, said the curriculum can be used immediately and won’t require additional work.

ICFJ-TL Country Director Chuck Rice left Dili on December 11 and will continue to manage the program from the United States until January 31st. Bikila Merga is taking over day-to-day operations until a successor for Chuck has been appointed. Chuck is stepping down after more than two years at the helm. His immediate plans are to spend time with his family. He has spent the past eight years living outside the United States working on projects in Mongolia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan. “It was an absolute pleasure to be involved in such a dynamic and exciting program in Timor-Leste. I had the pleasure of working with a fantastic staff in Dili and in Washington, DC.” He added: “It was one of the most challenging programs that I have ever been involved with, but at the same time, it was also the most rewarding. There is tremendous potential in Timor-Leste and we were fortunate to be able to tap into that potential over the past two years or so.”