Bangkok, November 2025 - Timor-Leste marked a significant milestone in its engagement with the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) programme by hosting the 2nd Country-Level Strategic Workshop. Held from 1–3 October 2025 in Dili, the event built on the momentum of the first workshop in February 2025 and demonstrated growing interest in the importance of data and evidence in driving meaningful reforms and actions in the basic education system. .

In his opening remarks, Mr Apolinario Serpa Rosa, Director General of the Ministry of Education Timor-Leste stressed that “assessment results must be translated into improved learning for every child, not remain at the technical level.” He urged central and municipal counterparts to use SEA-PLM results to inform decision-making, emphasizing the need to integrate data into existing Ministry programmes, especially those supporting schools directly.

The SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat echoed this view, describing the series of in-country workshops as a “crucial juncture” where countries transition from data generation to policy and programme application.

Mr. Apolinario gave an opening remark in the workshop

The first day of the workshop featured an update from the SEA-PLM Secretariat on the 2024 survey cycle, including guidance on the embargoed status of results until the regional launch in December 2025. The briefing explained the proposed structure of the forthcoming regional report, emphasizing that national reports should complement rather than duplicate its scope.

A key message highlighted: countries that targeted the lowest-performing learners saw greater improvements and demonstrated stronger resilience in improving overall learning outcomes..

A participant from the National Directorate of Planning, Budget and Statistics remarked during the plenary discussion “This is the first time we clearly see how regional data can speak to our own plans. If we communicate it properly within the Ministry, SEA-PLM will not only be a report, it will inform our Saturday classes, remedial initiatives, and teacher mentoring.” This testimony illustrates an emerging national understanding that assessment should feed directly into existing Ministry mechanisms.

Day two focused on Initiative 2, a regional mechanism designed to support countries in piloting and scaling interventions informed by SEA-PLM evidence. Timor-Leste presented its working proposal titled “Learning Recovery Support for Low-Performing Schools Identified in the SEA-PLM Study.” The project includes: Development of literacy and numeracy recovery materials aligned with the national curriculum, Coaching, mentoring, and ICT-enabled support for teachers and school leaders, Establishment of a local support system to sustain improvements beyond the project period

A technical session on the School Learning Questionnaire (SLQ), facilitated by an expert from Singapore, allowed reflection on key policy dimensions such as teacher recruitment, bilingual instruction models, and in-service support. Timor-Leste’s unique bilingual context, Portuguese as the primary language with Tetum support and EMULI for local-language transition, was noted as both a challenge and opportunity, particularly in early-grade literacy.

(Left to right: Ms. Aly Nguyen - SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat, Dr Yew Leo Wong - National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University , Mr. Alejandro Ibanez SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat, H.E. Ms. Dulce de Jesus Soares - Minister of Education in Timor-Leste, Ms Linda Jonsson - UNICEF EAPRO, Mr Anwari - SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat 

The workshop also convened the first meeting of the National Steering Committee (NSC) for SEA-PLM, which will oversee the conduct of SEA-PLM activities at the country-level,, manage national report drafting (with support from UNICEF Timor-Leste), and supervise the rollout of Initiative 2. The Ministry committed to share NSC’s Terms of Reference, membership, and calendar with the Regional Secretariat, and expressed interest in involving universities for deeper policy analysis.

A school visit capped the workshop, demonstrating how data-driven insights are beginning to inform local teaching and school management practices.

Representative from Ministry of Education in Thailand and Brunei Darussalam participate in the capacity building workshop in SEA-PLM 2024 data analysis

The Timor-Leste workshop is fully aligned with the broader SEA-PLM 2024 country-support sequence taking place in the second half of 2025, which aims to: sustain national engagement after data collection, finalise country-level components of the Initiative 2 pipeline, and prepare all participating countries for the December 2025 regional launch. The Second Country-Level Strategic Workshop in Timor-Leste demonstrated that national ownership of learning-assessment data is growing to build a clearer understanding of how to position SEA-PLM findings within the Ministry’s broader reform agenda.

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SEA-PLM is supported by the UK Mission to ASEAN under the ASEAN-UK Supporting the Advancement of Girls’s Education (SAGE) Programme. Its content is the sole responsibility of the SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat and does not necessarily reflect the views of ASEAN-UK SAGE.