Goodbye conflict, hello development? Curriculum reform in Timor-Leste

Motivations to reform curriculum in post-conflict, or post-colonial states are often driven by the need to (re) construct a cohesive and publicly legitimated national identity that is starkly different to that which existed prior. This paper explores the context behind such action in the Timor-Leste (East Timor) and some challenges which policy makers and citizens have wrestled with in developing and implementing the country's first post-independence primary curriculum. The author argues that specific aspects of this new curriculum have effectively alienated and/or divided large segments of its population, despite a desire for the reforms to result in a more inclusive, democratic and distinctly “Timorese” educational system. The assertion is that the desire to institute change rapidly after independence has in fact hampered the ability of the reforms to constructively serve the political and social project of nation building. The paper cautions that education's role in promoting human development, and reducing the triggers of conflict in this country hang in the balance as long as this new curriculum fails to deliver on its aspirations.