(Dilli, Timor-Leste) – The General Coordinator of the IUS (Salesian Higher education Institutes), Fr George Thadathil, visited the Instituto Superior Dom Bosco (ISDB) in Timor-Leste to encourage a vision of development and invite the Institute to ‘think big’. The main objective of the visit: to explore the possibilities of transforming the current ISDB – which today offers only two study programmes (Philosophy and Educational Sciences) – into a future Don Bosco University of Timor.-Leste.
On 25 November, accompanied by the Rector of the ISDB, Fr Manuel Pinto, Fr Thadathil visited several academic institutions in Dili: the local Catholic university of the diocese, the Institute of Cristal and the Institute of Business (IOB), both directed by Salesian past pupils. The following day, he also visited the Marist Brothers Teacher Training College in Baucau, with a subsequent visit to the Fatumaca campus.
After gaining a general overview of the national university context, Fr Thadathil led a discussion meeting at the ISDB, proposing three key questions for strategic planning: Where is the ISDB today?; Where do we want it to be in five years’ time?; What obstacles stand in the way of achieving this goal? At the end of the visit, the General Coordinator of the IUS left ISDB and the TLS Vice-Provincey with a series of recommendations that will serve as a roadmap towards the future Salesian University of Timor.-Leste.
Source: ANS – “Agencia iNfo Salesiana”