Dili, May 21, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Secretary of State for Social Communication (SEKOMS), Expedito Loro Dias Ximenes, together with the Portuguese Ambassador in Dili, Maria Fernandes Manuela Bairos, awarded certificates to forty-nine (49) graduates who completed a year-long training at the Language Center for Journalists (CLJ, Portuguese acronym). The certification event took place this Monday.
He stated that the Ninth Constitutional Government, in cooperation with the Camões Institute, has provided training to colleagues on how to speak and write for social communication bodies.
“Today I am here with the Ambassador of Portugal to award certificates to participants of various levels. In the upcoming phase, we will sign the third phase of the project, and we are currently waiting for it. At this stage, we have already deployed Timorese reviewers at media outlets like GMN, RTTL, and Tatoli,” said Secretary of State for Social Communication (SEKOMS), Expedito Loro Dias Ximenes.
Expedito added that the third phase will also cover journalists in audiovisual and press media, including online platforms. The Portuguese Ambassador has already agreed to this training. The third phase will be implemented shortly as part of the Special Program in Social Communication (PEC) between the Government of Timor-Leste and the Government of Portugal.
“Before I came to hand over the certificates, I met with the Ambassador, and we discussed the general principles for the third phase, specifically focusing on journalists who are expected to write in Portuguese,” he stated.
On the occasion, the official also mentioned that this year, SEKOMS plans to send four journalists to continue training at the Protocol Training Center for Journalists (CENJOR).
Likewise, the Portuguese Ambassador in Dili, Maria Fernandes Manuela Bairos, expressed gratitude to the Secretariat of State for Social Communication and to the trainees and trainers involved in this language consultation project for journalists. She highlighted that this year marks ten years of cooperation between the Government of Timor-Leste and the Camões Institute in providing training to journalists and officials from various institutions.
Graduate Yane Alfrida Domingas Maia shared that she completed Portuguese language courses at the Language Center for Journalists (CLJ), covering levels A1, A2, B1, B2, and B2±, including themes on health, education, and the environment, as well as economics. These trainings took a long time to complete.
“Now I have the opportunity to work as a reviewer, which means I must study and learn vocabulary. This allows me to perform quality news revisions in my job. The training taught us how to continue respecting the journalism code of ethics and grammar because journalists are not only meant to inform but also to educate,” she explained.
She stated that the importance of the training lies in enhancing the capacity of journalists to write well and to think critically when analyzing documents, as Portuguese is one of Timor-Leste’s official languages. Since most documents are in Portuguese, it is essential for journalists to understand it so they can analyze documents and turn them into news stories.
“As a graduate and reviewer, I will apply this knowledge in my work and during publication. I urge the government to continue such training so that all Timorese journalists can improve their writing and analysis skills,” she concluded.
Graduate Domingas da Silva Gonçalves also expressed great satisfaction in participating in the training at the Language Center for Journalists, emphasizing that Portuguese is an official language.
“I am a journalist at Média Democracia and feel happy, even though the training had its challenges. But that did not hinder my learning spirit,” she said.
She requested SEKOMS and CLJ to continue offering such training, as many journalists still need to develop their language skills.
Report: Domingas
Photo: Domingas