List of Education Ministers of East Timor

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This is a list of the Ministers of Education of East Timor since independence was proclaimed in 1975 . In addition, the deputy ministers and state secretaries subordinate to the Ministry of Education are specified , if provided as an office .

In the first constitutional government of East Timor , the areas of “youth” and “sport” were initially assigned to the Ministry of Education, but from July 26, 2005 they were directly subordinate to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister or Minister of State. In the Seventh Government , sport and youth were also divided between two different secretariats. In the eighth government , youth and sport were reunited and assigned to the education department. The State Secretariat for Employment Policy and Vocational Training (SEPFOPE) was also in the VI. Government assigned to a Minister of State. In the eighth government, the department belongs to the Ministry of Economics .

In the V. Government and VI. In the government, the State Secretariat for Art and Culture was subordinate to the Ministry of Tourism . Since the Seventh Government, culture has again been under the Ministry of Education.

In the 8th government, the Ministry of Education was divided into two ministries: the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports MEJD and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture MESCC.

Minister of Education

Education Minister of East Timor
government	Office	photo	Surname	Political party	Term of office
Government of FRETILIN / government in exile	Minister for Education and Culture		Hamis Bassarewan	FRETILIN	1975–1979 †
I UNTAET	not occupied				2000-2001
II UNTAET	Minister for Education, Culture and Youth		Armindo Maia	independent	2001-2002
I.	Minister for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (Youth and Sport separated on July 26, 2005)		Armindo Maia	independent	2002-2006
II.	Minister for Education and Culture		Rosária Corte-Real	FRETILIN	2006-2007
III.	Minister for Education and Culture		Rosária Corte-Real	FRETILIN	2007
IV.	Minister for Education and Culture		João Câncio Freitas	independent	2007–2012
V.	Minister for Education and Culture		Bendito Freitas	CNRT	2012-2015
VI.	Minister of Education alongside: Minister of State and Coordinator for Social Affairs		Fernando de Araújo	PD	February 16 - June 2, 2015 †
	Minister for Education (acting)		Dulce Soares	CNRT	June 3 - August 10, 2015
	Minister of Education alongside: Minister of State and Coordinator for Social Affairs		Antonio da Conceição	PD	August 10, 2015
VII.	Minister for Education and Culture (acting)		Rui Maria de Araújo	FRETILIN	September 15 - October 3, 2017
	Minister for Education and Culture		Fernando Hanjam	PLP / FRETILIN	October 3, 2017 - 2018
VIII.	Minister for Education, Youth and Sport		Dulce Soares	CNRT	2018-2020
	Minister for Education, Youth and Sport		Armindo Maia	FRETILIN	since 2020
	Minister for Higher Education, Science and Culture		Longuinhos dos Santos	PLP	since 2018

Vice Minister

Vice Minister
government	Office	photo	Surname	Political party	Term of office
Government of FRETILIN / government in exile	not occupied				1975-2000
I UNTAET	not occupied				2000-2001
II UNTAET	Vice Minister for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport		Roque Rodrigues	independent	2001 - May 20, 2002
I.	Vice Minister for Education in Primary and Secondary Schools		Rosária Corte-Real	FRETILIN	September 2002 - 2006
II.	Vice Minister for Elementary and Middle Schools		Ilda Maria da Conceição	independent	2006-2007
	Vice Minister for Technical and Higher Education		Vítor da Conceição Soares		2006-2007
III.	Vice Minister for Elementary and Middle Schools		Ilda Maria da Conceição	independent	2007
	Vice Minister for Technical and Higher Education		Vítor da Conceição Soares		2007
IV.	Vice Minister for Education		Paulo Assis Belo	PD	2007–2012
V.	Vice Minister for Basic Education		Dulce Soares	CNRT	2012-2015
	Vice Minister for Secondary Education		Virgílio Simith	CNRT	2012-2015
	Vice Minister for Universities and Science		Marçal Avelino Ximenes	CNRT	2012-2015
VI.	Vice Minister for Education I		Dulce Soares	CNRT	2015-2017
	Vice Minister for Education II		Abel Ximenes	FM	2015-2017
VII.	Vice Minister for Education and Culture		Lurdes Maria Bessa	PD	September 15, 2017 - 2018
	Vice Minister for Education and Culture		José Neves	independent	October 3, 2017 - 2018
VIII.	Vice Minister for Education, Youth and Sport		João Zacarias	KHUNTO	2018-2020
	Vice Minister for Education, Youth and Sport		Antonio Guterres	KHUNTO	since 2020

State Secretaries

Handover of office in the State Secretariat for Youth and Sport from Nélio Isaac Sarmento to Abrão Saldanha (2020)

State Secretaries
government	Office	photo	Surname	Political party	Term of office
Government of FRETILIN / government in exile	not occupied				1975-2000
I UNTAET	not occupied				2000-2001
II UNTAET	not occupied				2001-2002
I.	State Secretary for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport		Virgílio Simith		2002– July 26, 2005
II.	not occupied				2006-2007
III.	not occupied				2007
IV.	State Secretary for Culture		Virgílio Simith	CNRT	2007–2012
V.	not occupied				2012-2015
VI.	not occupied				2015-2017
VII.	not occupied				2017-2018
VIII.	State Secretary for Youth and Sport		Nélio Isaac Sarmento	CNRT	2018-2020
	State Secretary for Art and Culture		Teófilo Caldas	CNRT	since 2018
	State Secretary for Youth and Sport		Abrão Saldanha	CNRT	since 2020

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Sport and Youth not subject to the Ministry of Education
2. ↑ ^{a b} Art and Culture not subordinate to the Ministry of Education

Web links

Commons : Minister of Education of East Timors  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage of the Ministry of Education
• Facebook presence of the Ministry of Education

Individual evidence

For evidence, see articles on individual governments.