Meeting of the Council of Ministers on July 16th 2025

Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Spokesperson of the Government of Timor-Leste
Ninth Constitutional Government

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Press Release 

Meeting of the Council of Ministers on July 16th 2025

The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by Minister José Honório da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, on Access and Admission to Higher Education.

Under the terms of the Basic Law on Higher Education, the law defines the legal regime for access and admission to higher education in Timor-Leste, establishing common rules for students’ application, selection and placement procedures.

The measure applies to all students who have completed secondary education and wish to enter public or private higher education institutions, with uniform criteria for the admission of new students.

The law establishes a general access regime and special regimes for specific groups, including people with disabilities, members of vulnerable families, Timorese citizens who have completed their secondary education abroad and those over 23, among others.

The Coordinating Commission for Access to Higher Education (CAES) is created, responsible for organizing and supervising the process of access to public higher education, including defining the timetable, coordinating exams, classifying candidates and validating placement lists.

For a transitional period of ten years (2025-2035), the Government will manage the process of access to public higher education. After this period, responsibility will be handed over to the higher education establishments themselves, which will be able to organize their own admission processes. The law also provides for the possibility of courses requiring specific prerequisites and defines tie-breaking criteria and appeal mechanisms for candidates.

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The Decree-Law presented by the Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Nelyo Isaac Sarmento, on the availability and dedication allowance for the XII CPLP Sports Games 2025 in Timor-Leste, was also approved.

The aim of the diploma is to recognize the efforts and guarantee the full availability of those involved in organizing and participating in Timor-Leste’s XII CPLP Sports Games, which will take place between July 17th and 27th 2025. To this end, it establishes an availability and dedication allowance for volunteers, athletes, coaches, referees, officials, entertainers, contracted employees and civil servants from the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, who participate directly in the preparation and organization of the event.

This allowance, which is of a pecuniary nature and granted on an exceptional basis, is intended to compensate for the special working conditions required, namely working overtime of more than three hours a day, between May 17th and July 27th, 2025. The list of beneficiaries will be approved by ministerial order, based on the information provided by the Secretariat of the Local Organizing Committee of the CPLP Sports Games

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Lastly, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu, presented the Council of Ministers with the results of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) preliminary report under the Universal Safety Audit Program – Continuous Control Approach (USAP-CMA)

ICAO, a specialized United Nations agency created in 1944, has the mission of promoting the safe and sustainable development of international civil aviation by defining global standards and strengthening cooperation between States. Through USAP-CMA, the organization continuously assesses countries’ compliance with aviation safety standards, identifying weaknesses and supporting their correction.

The presentation highlighted the main results of the audit, as well as the actions and recommendations to be implemented to improve the safety conditions of national civil aviation. END

url: https://timor-leste.gov.tl?lang=en&p=44346