Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

Arrival of the Brazilian delegation in East Timor. From right to left: Regina Grando, Samuel Penteado, Irlan von Linsingen, Elison Paim, Camila Barros, Patrícia Giraldi, Suzani Cassiani and Renata Anunciação.

On 19 January, a Brazilian faculty delegation arrived in East Timor to initiate the first regular master’s degree program in Education at the Faculty of Education, Arts, and Humanities (FEAH) of the National University of East Timor (UNTL). This milestone follows the signing of a cooperation agreement between UNTL and the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) on 18 August 2023.

The agreement facilitates a four-year collaboration, enabling faculty from UFSC and other Brazilian public institutions to contribute to the academic and research environment at UNTL. Activities include teaching, launching a scientific journal, forming research groups, organizing libraries, and more. The agreement also anticipates the arrival of Timorese professors in Brazil, promoting mutual academic exchange. These initiatives are funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE). Currently, 21 faculty members from Brazilian universities are supervising 33 master’s students at UNTL.

 “A 15-year dream has finally come true, thanks to the efforts of many hands, hearts, and minds!” says UFSC professor Suzani Cassiani.

Professor Cassiani is the coordinator of the Cooperation Agreement between UFSC and UNTL, leader of the study and research group, and UFSC Internationalization Agent. “This is a dream of South-South cooperation that has fostered horizontal, decolonial dialogue and solidarity between our nations.”

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From left to right: Maurício Medeiros de Assis and Bendito Freitas. Source: article from “Último Jornal”, Radio-Televisão Timor Leste (RTTL) newspaper

This past Friday, 18 August, the ambassador of Brazil in Timor-Leste, Maurício Medeiros de Assis, and the minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Bendito Freitas, signed a cooperation agreement involving the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL), in Timor Leste, in order to implement the Master’s degree in Education at UNTL, a regular program of the Faculty of Education, Arts and Humanities (FEAH). With the signing of the agreement, Brazilian professors will go to Timor Leste to give classes at UNTL for a period of two years. The project also involves the coming of Timorese professors to Brazil.

“This is a long-standing demand that was initially formulated more than ten years ago which involves UNTL, UFSC and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency as the executing entity”, says Maurício Medeiros de Assis. The ambassador adds: ”this cooperation has an important impact on Timorese academic production, helping Timor Leste to take a leading role in the academic area”.

UFSC has maintained a cooperation agreement with UNTL since 2016, but with this new agreement, the internationalization policy aimed at South-South cooperation of both universities will be further strengthened. The cooperation between UFSC and Timor Leste has a long history and is conducted by the Studies and Research Group “Discourses of Science and Technology in Education” from the Graduate Program in Science and Technology Education (PPGECT).

Prof. Dr Suzani Cassiani, leader of the Studies and Research Group and coordinator of the cooperation agreement between UFSC and UNTL, shares her vision on the journey of establishing a transformative master’s degree on Timorese soil. In her words, “In Timor-Leste, the educational demands are considerable and the challenges are numerous. Typical of a post-conflict country that gained its independence in 2002 and is under reconstruction. We have lecturers at UNTL who have only an undergraduate degree and need to seek for improvement. In addition, we have young people who recently completed their undergraduate teaching degree and are facing a shortage of options to pursue their studies.”
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