On July 11 and 12, 2024, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture (MHESC), through the Directorate-General for Higher Education, Science and in partnership with the Coordinating Committee for Universities and Institutes (CUIS), held the International Seminar on the National Qualifications System of Timor-Leste (SNQ-TL), at Hotel Novo Turismo, in Dili. 

Under the theme “Development and validation of the SNQ-TL Competence Standards,” the event brought together national and international experts in the field of human resources training and the development of integrated systems aligned with the needs of the labour market.

The seminar aimed to discuss, develop, and validate the Competency Standards of Timor-Leste’s National Qualifications System, which were identified by the review commission in the previous phases. The working committee responsible for this revision covers two sectors: the Academic Sector and the Technical-Vocational Sector, with the priority of analysing the qualification levels and learning domains, resulting in the decision to reduce the qualification level from Level 10 to Level 8 and simplify the learning domains into three: Knowledge, Competence, and Autonomy and Responsibility.

The opening session featured a speech by the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, who stressed “the importance of training and empowering human resources and producing skills for national political and economic success.” The Head of Government highlighted the mission of universities in preparing the future generation of leaders who will run the country and encouraged educational institutions to continuously improve their interventions, so that the education system from primary to higher education can fulfil this role, as education is not just a service, but a vocation and-or mission to serve and care. 

On the second day of the Seminar, participants were involved in discussions and validation sessions of the competence descriptors defined for Level 8 of the SNQ-TL, divided into two groups: Higher Education and Technical Education and Vocations Education and Training (TVET).

The event was attended by the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Culture, José Honório, MHESC directors and technicians, as well as representatives of various institutions such as INDIMO, ANAAA; SEFOPE, CCI-TL, and rectors/presidents of higher education institutions.