Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U told reporters yesterday that the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) is in charge of the higher education scholarship programme for students attending the world’s top universities, adding that having a new bureau in charge does not affect the application process.
Ao Ieong made the remarks on the sidelines of the First Diplomacy-Themed Speech Contest for Macau College Students jointly organised by the Government and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Macau at the bureau’s headquarters.
According to a recent news report, lawmaker-cum-activist Sulu Sou Ka Hou said on Friday that the most recent student benefit fund plan offered by the government for the 2021-2022 school year had cancelled the special scholarships for local students who attend one of the Top 100 universities listed by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Ao Ieong stressed that the special scholarship will be handled by the DSEDJ instead of the Macau Foundation (FM). She said that the application process, quotas and plan will most likely be the same as when it was handled by Macau Foundation. She pointed out that in July, the bureau will announce the student benefit fund plan in detail.
According to Ao Ieong, the adjustment is normal as the Macau Foundation is gradually delegating subsidy programmes to the relevant bureaus in order to avoid similar projects overlapping each other. She said that the DSEDJ and Macau Foundation are discussing the plan in detail, adding that it would be announced soon.
The DSEDJ said in a statement yesterday that it was analysing the details, such as the aim, the sponsorship amount, and the target audience of the scholarship programme. The statement stressed that in order to create a better education system for local students, the bureau was optimising and improving the plan.
The statement said that the special sponsorship, that Sou mentioned, and students’ benefits for higher education would be open for application from August 2 to 20. The statement said the bureau acknowledges that students are worried about the plan’s transition from the Macau Foundation to the bureau, pledging that the new details regarding the special scholarships will be announced as soon as they are finalised.
MUST student wins 1st diplomacy-themed speech contest
Meanwhile, a student from the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Able Zhou Junxian, won the First Diplomacy-Themed Speech Contest for Macau College Students yesterday. He told the media on the sidelines of the competition that his speech, titled “The Change of Xin Chou”*, highlighted how China has gradually become centre stage in the world in recent years. He said that he was an event host at the university and had experience in public speaking.
Zhou said through yesterday’s competition he was able to improve his knowledge of Chinese diplomacy and gain a greater understanding of his own culture.
*Xin Chou Nian refers to the year 2021, based on the ancient Chinese traditional method of chronology.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U talks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s First Diplomacy-Themed Speech Contest for Macau College Students at the Education and Youth Development Bureau’s headquarters.
Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) student Able Zhou Junxian talks to reporters after winning at yesterday’s speech competition. Photos: Prisca Tang
