UQ Gatton's key role in East Timor

Helping to rebuild the shattered tertiary education system in East Timor has been a daunting challenge for staff from The University of Queensland's Gatton Campus.

The Agriculture Faculty of the National University of East Timor is functioning again after being destroyed by civil insurrection in 1999.

The makeshift facilities which have re-opened are expected to face demand from over 4000 new and continuing students with more than 1000 in the Agriculture Faculty alone.

Two UQ Gatton lecturers, Iean Russell and Gordon Dryden, were part of a national team that visited East Timor to launch a three-year rehabilitation project backed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

With specialists from Curtin University of Technology in WA and the Northern Territory University, Mr Russell and Dr Dryden assessed the priority needs to restore higher education. Getting the Timor University functioning again has been one of a number of ACAIR projects to help the fledgling nation re-build.

Dr Dryden, Senior Lecturer in Animal Nutrition at UQ Gatton, said the two things which struck him were the complete destruction of facilities and the enthusiasm to get the university functioning again as quickly as possible.

'Anything which could be burned was destroyed. A lot of aid money is coming in from both the United Nations and non government organisations to help with the restoration,' Dr Dryden said.

'The Agriculture Faculty was really left with nothing. The first tasks were to begin rehabilitation of buildings on the University farm outside Dili and fit out laboratory facilities on the city campus,' he said.

There had also been a need to re-design courses and engage in staff recruitment and training. Indonesian staff at the University had been withdrawn.

Mr Russell, a lecturer in Natural and Rural Systems Management, said essential library and learning resources had been destroyed and had to be replaced. University records were also lost.

The first order of about 1000 textbooks for staff and student use arrived in January.

Mr Russell said The University of Queensland would participate in a range of training activities for staff in Timor including the likelihood of short visits to this country.

Curriculum and research development would also continue.

'There has been widespread support for the re-opening of the University in Timor with thousands of students eager to make up the disruption to their education,' Mr Russell said.