The Ministry of Education in Beijing has finally given a green light to Macau’s University of Saint Joseph (USJ) to enrol students from the mainland on a trial basis for the current academic year and beyond to its post-graduate programmes in Architecture, Business Administration, Information Systems, and Science, the rector of the Catholic tertiary education institution, Rev. Prof. Stephen Morgan, has announced.
Morgan thanked Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U and the staff of the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) for their “advocacy of our case”.
In a statement released by USJ earlier this week, Morgan also thanked Macau-based Liaison Office Director Fu Ziying and Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa for their support and assistance in getting the ministry’s permission to enrol students from the mainland.
“We will closely observe the detailed regulations concerning this permit and will spare no effort in seeking to repay the trust and confidence of the Ministry of Education, as we seek to demonstrate that we are a university in, of and for Macau, [as well as] in, of and for China,” Morgan said.
The rector also pointed out that “over the last few years, USJ has developed close working relationships with a number of institutions of higher education and research institutions in mainland China. Morgan added that “those institutions recognise the very special character of USJ as a unique platform within the Greater Bay Area [GBA] for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and as an example of Macau as a base for the harmonious exchange between the cultures of the East and the West.”
Morgan concluded that “the permission we have now received holds out for us the very real opportunity of deepening those collaborations in concrete ways that had not thus far been possible.”
USJ is co-owned by the Macau Catholic Diocese and the Catholic University in Lisbon. The university was founded in 1996, initially known as Macau Inter-University Institute, when Macau was still under temporary Portuguese administration.
Undated file photo of USJ Rector Rev. Prof. Stephen Morgan – Courtesy of USJ
