Article from USAID/Timor-Leste Web site: http://timor-leste.usaid.gov/EGHighlights1.htm
August 19, 2008

For students of the three agricultural high schools of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), agricultural training now means more than getting their hands dirty. For over a year now, USAID, through its Building Agribusiness Capacity in East Timor (BACET) program, has made big strides in modernizing agricultural training in the MAF-administered technical high schools in Natarbora-Manatuto, Moleana-Maliana and Fuiloro-Los Palos.

These schools now benefit from internet connection through satellite. “The Moleana Agricultural School, for example, is now ready to introduce the BACET curriculum in its campus starting in October 2008. It now has fifteen computer units and internet facilities that will be used for teaching computer courses,” said Asha Harrison, deputy director of Land O’Lakes, which is implementing the BACET program with MAF. Harrison added that the school is expecting some 50 new students this coming school year. 
   
Through USAID’s Small Grants Program, BACET students at Don Bosco Fuiloro and Natarbora Agricultural Technical High School also recently were trained in using GIS/GPS (geographic information system/global positioning system) technology and were exposed to its practical applications in agriculture.

The students still get their hands dirty, of course, through practical training in various agribusiness projects including dairy, livestock and horticulture. The training also involves first-hand experience in running an agribusiness project, where the students get to organize themselves into cooperatives and start earning a small income from their group projects.

The BACET project will see its first batch of graduates on September 1, 2008, with 120 students completing a one-year agriculture course.