UNESCO ran a two-workshop AI Readiness Assessment in Dili (April–May 2025) covering education among five policy dimensions, feeding Timor-Leste's digital strategy. A parallel study flags patchy internet and teacher digital literacy as the main barriers to classroom AI use.
Details
Promoter
UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Jakarta) & Timor-Leste Ministry of Transport and Communications
Period
April–May 2025 assessment; feeds Timor Digital 2032 strategy
Keywords
AI policy, education governance, digital strategy, e-learning research
Context
Between April and May 2025, UNESCO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Jakarta) ran a two-workshop Artificial Intelligence Readiness Assessment (RAM) in Dili, working with Timor-Leste's Ministry of Transport and Communications, the National Commission for UNESCO, and technical partner Catalpa International.
Objectives
Examine AI readiness across five dimensions - legal/regulatory, social/cultural, economic, scientific/educational and technological - with education as one of the five pillars, feeding directly into the revision of Timor-Leste's national 'Timor Digital 2032' strategy.
Activities
The workshops brought together government, academic, civil-society and private-sector representatives. In parallel, researchers at the Dili Institute of Technology published a 2024 conference paper examining how e-learning and AI could boost student achievement in Timor-Leste.
Conclusions
The Dili Institute of Technology paper concluded that patchy internet access and low digital literacy among teachers are the main obstacles to classroom AI adoption. As of mid-2025 this remains a readiness and policy-shaping exercise: no classroom AI tool has been deployed at scale and no learning-outcome data exists yet.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No cost figure stated; low band is a conservative inferred estimate for a two-workshop assessment process.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Workshops ran April-May 2025 (a short, time-bound assessment phase); its findings feed an ongoing national strategy revision.
Staffing & skills
UNESCO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Jakarta), Timor-Leste Ministry of Transport and Communications, Timor-Leste National Commission for UNESCO, Catalpa International (technical partner)
Conditions for success
Multi-stakeholder representation across government, academia, civil society and the private sector
Structured, published methodology (Readiness Assessment Methodology) feeding directly into national digital strategy revision
Common failure modes
Patchy internet access and low teacher digital literacy identified as the main barriers to any future classroom AI adoption
No classroom deployment or learning-outcome data exists yet
Where it fits
Governance type
national government plus UN agency
Scale
national policy process
Income level
low-income
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Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
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