The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) announced in a statement that the “2021/2022 Academic Year” ended yesterday amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation in Macau.
The statement noted that the decision comes in cooperation with the pandemic prevention work, as well as upon consideration that the academic year was nearing its end, that most schools have basically completed teaching plans, and that face-to-face teaching cannot be resumed soon.
According to the statement, for non-tertiary education, ending the academic year early has “little impact” on students’ final academic performance since schools have “generally used diverse assessment methods”. The bureau suggested schools follow the principle of fairness, adding that the pandemic should not affect students’ grades.
The statement noted that the final grades should be calculated “based on the existing learning achievements of students and formative assessments” and to follow the “better loose than tight” principle, the statement said.
Moreover, the bureau has sent letters to local schools to provide them with operational guidelines to enable them to make arrangements in line with their school-based circumstances, the statement underlined.
Teaching activities of most higher education courses, meanwhile, have been completed. The statement pointed out that colleges and universities may switch to online teaching for courses that have not been completed yet based on the actual situation. The statement urged students to pay close attention to their respective colleges or universities’ announcements.
The statement said that the bureau will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and calls on schools, teachers and staff, as well as parents to fully cooperate with the government’s prevention measures.
