then governor Mário Viegas Carrascalão and the Loro Sae Foundation, "Universitas Timor Timur" (UnTim) was founded. The university existed largely to train middle-level administrators, agricultural extension workers and secondary school teachers. It was not a research institution and critical and analytical thought was not encouraged. Professional courses such as architecture, law and medicine were not taught. The study of English was carefully controlled and international contacts discouraged. Only a tiny minority used computers. Indonesian history was taught but little about other countries in the region. Aid for tertiary education was largely for scholarships in East Timor and abroad, rather than improving overall teacher training or curriculum. Many students traveled abroad for their tertiary education, largely to Indonesia. There were problems of language and often undergraduates were unable to meet overseas entry requirements. By 1998/99 UNTIM had nearly 4,000 students, with 73 permanent teaching staff, in three main faculties — Agriculture, Social & Political Sciences and Education & Teacher Training. In 1995–98, at a time of escalating instability in East Timor and Indonesia, Georgetown University and USAID established the first international assistance project for UNTIM. The project involved developing staff teaching and management skills and improving curriculum. It established three new student resource centers (a teaching farm, an English-language center and a biology lab) and acquired up-to-date books, teaching materials and equipment for staff and students. Cuba sent hundreds of medical instructors to the country, while preparing to receive many more East Timorese for training in Cuba. In April 1999 the Indonesian government effectively closed UNTIM in response to mass demonstrations demanding a referendum. Immediately following the announcement of the ballot by the UN, most students and the few East Timorese lecturers returned to their villages to campaign for independence, while the Indonesian lecturers returned to their home islands. The Polytechnic Technical courses were based in a building in Becora, next to the Senior High School of Economics, and a campus in Hera, close to the University's Agriculture College. The Polytechnic provided Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Civil Construction and Accountancy. Significant funding came from abroad to upgrade facilities and resources. Destruction In September 1999 when the Indonesian military and militia rampaged through East Timor destroying vital infrastructure, the education system was a major target for destruction. This was known as the Scorched Earth Operation. The first buildings to be razed were resistance centers including the CNRT offices and student centers. Then