The government, through the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), officially inaugurated four new Health and Wellness Rooms in the municipality of Baucau on July the 21^st, 2025, at a ceremony held at the Binagari Vemasse Central Elementary School (EBC).     These new rooms, installed in the Central Basic Schools of Binagari Vemasse, Soba Laga, Osso-Huna Baguia and Vila-Nova Baucau-Vila, are part of the national School Health program and aim to improve students’ access to basic health care and promote healthy lifestyle habits. 

With this inauguration, Timor-Leste now has a total of 11 Health and Wellness Rooms in operation in schools across the country, reinforcing the government’s commitment to linking learning to student wellbeing. The plan is to gradually expand this program to more schools across the country. 

The rooms are equipped with scales and height meters, medicines, health education materials and have a full-time nurse responsible for providing basic care, carrying out eye, hearing, dermatological and dental health screenings, as well as early detection of any health problems. It is also planned to create student health records, which will be integrated into the databases of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, allowing for more effective school health interventions. 

In her speech, the Minister of Education, Dulce de Jesus Soares, stressed that “a child’s success begins with good health” and emphasized the shared responsibility of keeping these spaces active and having an impact, in conjunction with the school communities. 

The WHO Representative in Timor-Leste, Arvind Mathur, said that “health and education should not be seen as separate needs, but as deeply connected rights that all children deserve”. The Director of KOICA in Timor-Leste, Youn Hwa Kang, expressed the hope that these rooms would contribute to the physical and mental development of Timorese students. 

The official ceremony was also attended by the Vice-Minister for the Institutional Strengthening of Health, José dos Reis Magno, the President of the Baucau Municipal Authority, Veneranda Lemos Martins, the head of the education service of the Baucau Municipality, teachers and students. END