The government will spend 1.58 billion patacas on education resources next year, an 18 million pataca increase compared to this year’s budget, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said during a plenary session in the hemicycle of the local legislature yesterday.
Ao Ieong made the remarks during a Q&A session about her portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year, following Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng’s 2023 Policy Address on November 15.
Ao Ieong said that the government’s three education funds – Education Development Fund, Higher Education Fund, and Students Social Welfare Fund – will have a combined budget of 1.58 billion patacas next year, while they are budgeted at 1.56 billion patacas this year and had a 1.3 billion pataca budget last year. Ao Ieong said the increase was due to the government’s plan to continue to increase its investment in local education resources.
Ao Ieong mentioned certain situations which the government wants to avoid concerning the funding of education resources, such as the government giving financial resources to schools on a per capita basis, which could result in some schools not being able to get enough students to continue operating as well as not having enough money to pay their teachers.
According to Ao Ieong, both the public University of Macau (UM) and the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) are in the 201-250 range of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, which Ao Ieong said she considered a “very high ranking” thanks to the efforts of both institutions over the years and a sign of the improved quality of local tertiary education institutions.
Ao Ieong also said that the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) has the world’s highest number of bachelor’s degree programmes accredited by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for quality tourism education, and that the Macao Polytechnic University (UPM) has gone from being “unranked” to “ranked”, with its reputation for sustainability rising as it is ranked 201-300 globally in the 2022 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings.
Ao Ieong also said that many higher education institutions in Macau have been developing programmes and examinations to promote students’ participation in professional examinations and certifications, as well as proficiency tests in countries overseas, in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
National Games volunteers
In addition, Ao Ieong announced that the local government will recruit around 10,000 volunteers in the first quarter of next year for China’s 15th National Games, which will be held in 2025 and co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. The volunteers will be engaged in hospitality, competition support, event protocol, prize giving and promotional activities, as well as training and internship opportunities, and Ao Ieong called on local students to sign up.
The quadrennial National Games have been held since 1959, and it will be the first time that Hong Kong and Macau host the Games, while Guangdong has been the host twice – in 1987 and 2001.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U addresses yesterday’s Q&A session about her portfolio’s policies for next year, in the legislature’s hemicycle.
– Photo courtesy of TDM
