The Education and Youth Development Bureau’s (DSEDJ) Non-tertiary Education Council said yesterday that it hopes to raise the COVID-19 vaccination rate for students in order to better prepare for inter-school competitions.
The government-appointed council yesterday held its second regular closed-door meeting of the year to introduce the operation of non-tertiary education in Macau, its performance evaluation system for teaching staff, and the novel coronavirus pandemic prevention plan for the upcoming inter-school competitions in the 2022/2023 school year.
The term “non-tertiary” refers to pre-school, primary and secondary school education.
During yesterday’s meeting, Luís Gomes, chief of the DSEDJ’s Non-Tertiary Education Department, pointed out that inter-school competitions are very important annual events for students, and the number of participants is large. As such, Gomes said his department expects to further increase the COVID-19 vaccination rate among students, so that they are better prepared for inter-school competitions, Gomes said, adding that in comparison to Hong Kong, which requires a 90 percent vaccination rate to conduct in-class teaching, a further increase in Macau’s vaccination rate would facilitate the organisation of inter-school competitions.
Gomes also said that nearly 90 percent of students in Macau aged 12 to 18 had received at least one dose of the vaccine in the previous school year 2021/2022, while 85 percent of students aged between 3 and 11 had recived at least one dose, and more and more parents of students aged between 3 and 11 were willing to allow their children to receive the second dose of the vaccine.
Working group to tackle students’ mental health issues
In addition, Gomes also introduced new measures to strengthen students’ mental health to better cope with the psychological challenges associated with the pandemic.
Gomes underlined that a physical and mental health working group has been set up by his department to strengthen psychological counselling and provide more support for students with emotional problems.
Gomes added that the working group is a subsidiary of the department’s crisis management team and aims to improve the psychological support mechanisms for detecting mentally “high-risk” students.
Gomes underlined that the working group is composed of the convener of the crisis management team, class teachers, counselling staff and teachers of various subjects, as well as professional staff sent by qualified mental health support groups in Macau.
Gomes also said that for the 2022/2023 school year, the working group specialising in psychological support and social assistance for students will be composed of 373 counselling specialists.
Luís Gomes (centre), chief of the Education and Youth Development Bureau’s (DSEDJ) Non-Tertiary Education Department, addresses yesterday’s press conference after the Non-tertiary Education Council’s second regular closed-door meeting this year, as Leong I On (left), chief of the Division of Secondary Education of the DSEDJ, and U Hon Sang, chief of the Division of General Student Development of the DESDJ, look on. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
