After being approved by the Council of Ministers, at the meeting of 10th of March, the wave of contest around Timor Lorosa’e National University (Portuguese acronym UNTL) started to intensify.
In the opinion of the Minister of Education, João Câncio Freitas, this contest is based on a misinterpretation of the diploma: “There were those who mixed up the Statute with the question of academic autonomy. This generated a certain controversy. There was a group of students that went to speak with the President of the Republic. The President, after meeting with that group, invited me to clarify the issue. After the conversation between me and the President of the Republic, we feel that there is margin to find a solution”.
The university students presented essentially three issues that, in their opinion, should be revised. The first one is the fact that the draft Decree-Law doesn’t incorporate the University’s history. “We think that in the preamble we can insert a paragraph, that, as a matter of fact, is already contemplated”, explains the Minister.
Another issue presented by the students was the presence of members of the Government at the General Council. The Minister of Education says he understands this position because “they consider, according with the old paradigm, that the university should have its own world, isolated from the society. But nowadays there are new perspectives, new paradigms, that include the financiers in the deliberative organ, which is the General Council. This is a normal practice. I believe that they became scared because this is a new experience for Timor-Leste. It is not new to other countries such as Portugal and Mozambique, or even to Indonesia. Nowadays there is this opening, created specially by this new “shareholders” theory. This paradigm defends the financier representation, and the State is UNTL’s major financier. What is important to understand is that it is not intended to have political interference in academic issues, in research issues”.
The third issue contested by the students is connected with the Dean’s election, as João Câncio Freitas, explains: “This contest, I don’t understand. Since there isn’t a General Council yet, by transitional norm what the Statute says is that the Council of Ministers will exercise this role only until the General Council’s constitution. When this is established it is up to the General Council to nominate the Dean. The transitional norm also says that the University must present three candidates. The candidates do not come from the Council of Ministers, they come from the University. It is the Dean that will present the three candidates. Afterwards, it is up to the Council of Ministers to decide”.
The Minister of Education considers that this problem’s resolution will be reached shortly: “I see that there is opening, from the university and mainly from the Government’s part. I guarantee that the Prime Minister is the most open person to debate these issues. At the National Parliament, when the supplementary budget was discussed, the Prime Minister made this very clear: that we are open to discuss, to debate on the issue”.
Right after the Supplementary Budget debate finished, the UNTL Statute was analysed once again at the Council of Ministers’ first meeting, on the 7th of July.
“The Prime Minister also requested more interested parties to be involved in this discussion, for example, members of Parliament” said the Minister of Education, adding that “the Head of Government’s objective is to call to the debate, persons who arrive without emotion, but that have cool-headedness. I believe we will reach an agreement, I really believe that perhaps like this we will find a better result, in terms of restructuring, in terms of development of the National University”.
This attempt to find the solution for the problem is connected with the need to begin the process of developing an institution that is, in João Câncio Freitas’s opinion, fundamental for the country’s development: “For us it is urgent that all these discussions be overcome and that the Decree-Law that establishes the National University Statutes be approved and promulgated soon. And this will only be the first step. After this comes restructuring”. A new stage that will be equally contested, in the Minister’s opinion: “I believe that the restructuring will also create contest, even some frustration. The Government has to be prepared with the capacity to resolve the problems, but without losing its course. Because in the end what everybody wants is a better definition of the National University’s mission and a larger relevance of the National University in the country’s development, in the construction of the Nation State of this country”, concluded João Câncio Freitas.