Stromme Schools

Completed Project

Who did we work with?

Oaktree partnered with the Stromme Foundation and Timor Children’s Foundation. These are both established NGOs with a successful record in East Timor development and a common focus on youth education.

Where did we work?

East Timor is one of the least developed nations in the world, largely due to the long struggle for national independence. The nation is among the poorest in the world, so young children work full days to help support their family. Health levels are low, with psychological damage a common result of the violence of 1999. Education has particularly suffered: 20% of students never attend school, and a further 20% will never achieve basic literacy levels despite completing primary school. With the high birth rate, devastation of infrastructure and uprooted population, the educational crisis looks set to continue.

What did we do?

The first step of our project sought to increase children’s access to education and the quality of educational resources available. In the wake of the 1999 conflict, most of the infrastructure has been devastated. We constructed three schools in the Likisa district. Some of the most disadvantaged students in each community will be supported with equity scholarships to support their education and compensate for the loss of their labour.

Once the construction was completed, we improved the quality of the education through formal teacher training in Timorese curriculum and skill development. We also established Parent and Teacher Associations (PTAs) to provide an avenue for community participation and a means of accountability. The combination of better quality and more accessible education significantly improved social equity and cohesion, helping the most vulnerable children escape ‘the poverty trap’. Education is the key to improving living standards, employment democracy and community engagement. In this way, we hope that our project has contributed towards a stronger Timorese nation, both politically and economically.

Oaktree and its partners emphasise community participation and ownership in all their projects. In Stromme Schools, this is reflected by the physical and financial investment in the project by the Likisa communities: a combination of labour and locally-available materials. This strengthened local support for the project, increasing the project’s viability.