Early Childhood Development Initiative

In September Ba Futuru undertook its third training on early childhood education with 27 educators from the rural district of Lautem, bringing the total number of educators trained in the last year to 78. This training was undertaken in partnership with Child Fund and was supported by the Sunrise Joint Venture as well as donations from Global Giving.

The participants were educators from 5 different pre-schools in Lospalos, Lautem, parent-teacher-association-representative and relevant Child Fund staff. The 27 participants (20 females and 7 males) were enthusiastic to learn a new and more effective approach to education during the training.

A female preschool teacher said: “I am proud of this training. I learned different activities and strategies for teaching children. I especially found play-based learning to be a suitable method for working with children and I will try to implement this in my preschool in order to slowly transform the formal teaching style [that is currently used]. The fact that the training included a lot of practice helped me to transform my ideas and methods. Now I understand that teachers have to be flexible and creative in implementing the curriculum, and that we should use play based learning methods rather then formal teaching. I see that this strategy supports children’s development a lot.”

Traditionally in Timor-Leste, education is very formal and preschool classes are often run in the same way that high school classes might be run in other countries, where the children are sitting in their desks and the teachers are lecturing from the chalk board. Ba Futuru is working with educators to implement more effective play-based learning strategies that are age appropriate.    

In addition to the teacher training component, Ba Futuru’s Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI) has also been running its Early Childhood Education Facility with two classrooms servicing around 18 children aged between two to six years. This is used to benefit these children directly as well as to show teachers receiving training how they can implement new methods in action.

There are a handful of children attending the facility that are in need of scholarships so that their education can continue. Please think about donating monthly to help support these children’s education. You can also donate and print out a gift card for birthdays or as holiday gifts for your loved ones.

Thank you for your support!

Over the last nine months Ba Futuru’s Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI) has:

a)     Provided two trainings on Early Childhood Education for 51 educators in the Dili district and Bazartete, Liquica district, and

b)     Opened a new Early Childhood Education Facility with two classrooms, which is being used to provide Early Childhood Education and care to 18 children aged between two to six years, including scholarship students from the local Seroja community and subsidized children of Ba Futuru staff members. The Early Childhood Education Facility’s curriculum uses play-based learning, participatory and child-centred teaching approaches as well as trauma pedagogy to engage and teach children from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who have been affected by conflict, violence or poverty.

The importance of engaging and educating very young children is often misunderstood in Timor-Leste. Ba Futuru has reached out extensively to parents in the surrounding Seroja community as well as to those who work at Ba Futuru to strengthen their awareness of and support for Early Childhood Education. Educating parents, caregivers and the broader community raises awareness of the importance of engaging children positively during the early stages of their development, provides skills and knowledge in this area and contributes to the legitimacy and sustainability of the Early Childhood Development Initiative.

Additionally, Ba Futuru has liaised with and formed a strong relationship with the Early Childhood Education section of the Ministry of Education (MoE). The MoE has already requested Ba Futuru’s Training Manual on Early Childhood Education so that they can incorporate its teachings into their own teacher trainings and is currently discussing the possibility of outsourcing trainings to Ba Futuru. Through this, Ba Futuru is becoming a vital actor in developing and promoting standards for Early Childhood Education in Timor-Leste.

Thank you for your support!

Links:

• Ba Futuru's website