End of the line: Students heave a sigh of relief and rejoice as they prepare to graduate from the Instituto Catholico Para Formacao De Professores (ICFP) Teachers Training College in Baucau, Timor-Leste.
The end of the year is in sight for the 3rd year students at ICFP. The cohort of budding educators celebrated the end of their studies on the 18th of November with their graduation ceremony to be held on the 25th February, 2017. Many of those who received scholarships have asked us to extend their thanks our donors in Australia for the support over the past 3 years. The generosity of these donors will continue to support educational change across Timor-Leste as these new teachers enter the classrooms across the nation.
As one cohort prepares to exit, another is preparing to enter and to date ICFP has received 81 applications from potential students. Those successful in their pre-entrance exam and interview are set to commence at the end of January, 2017.
The college empowers its students to become leaders in the field of primary education and leaders within their own local community as well. Trained in critical thinking, pedagogy and child development, the students are readily offered employment upon graduation. ICFP is a major project of the Marist Brothers and of Australian Marist Solidarity and is contributing to the development of one of the newest countries in the world. For more information on ICFP please visit https://www.australianmaristsolidarity.net.au/project/icfp/.
Did you know?
ICFP is a Marist-run Catholic Teachers College and is the only tertiary institution that offers an accredited Bachelor of Teaching outside of the capital Dili. It is also the only provider of quality pre-service basic education teacher training in the country. The educational infrastructure in Timor-Leste is still weak, but ICFP’s goal is to strengthen the Catholic School system and provide the country with fully qualified teachers.
ICFP has been accredited for another 5 years, scoring 100% again. It is the only Higher Education Institution to do this, and we are very proud of what the staff and students, have done to make the Institute such an excellent place for training future teachers.
You can keep up to date with all the happenings at ICFP via their website: http://icfpmarista.edu.tl
Timor-Leste is the focus of the AMS Christmas Appeal in 2016. AMS is on the lookout for additional community support for projects throughout the region. For more information and to check out the projects please visit 2016 CHRISTMAS APPEAL: TIMOR-LESTE