In celebration of the nation’s Space Day, which is commemorated annually on April 24, the “China Space Day Special Activities 2023”, co-organised by the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) and The Association for Promotion of Science and Technology of Macau kicked off yesterday at the Macau Science Centre in Nape, with about 350 students from tertiary education institutions and high schools attending seminars on the development of space and science popularisation.
The activities will continue for sometime.
The opening ceremony, as well as the respective seminars by Yu Meng, who heads the Aerospace Engineering Department of the Aerospace School of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Cai Zhanchuan, professor at the Macau University of Science and Technology’s (MUST) Faculty of Innovation Engineering, were held both offline and online.
DSEDJ Acting Director Teng Sio Hong said in a speech during yesterday’s opening ceremony that the activities aim to help students better understand the development of the national space industry and science and technology, so as to “increase their sense of identity and belonging to the country”. Teng also said he hoped that through the seminars, students “will think more and learn more”, adding that while helping the students understand the development and achievements of national aerospace science, he hoped that students could also contribute to their country and Macau in the future, based on the spirit of continuous exploration.
According to Teng, the whole nation marked yesterday its 8th “Space Day “.
A local physics teacher surnamed Tam told reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s event that “the whole education is changing now, and popular science knowledge is very important in the future”, adding he believed that the combination of theory and experimentation was “very helpful” for gaining knowledge, as students can get in touch with relevant professional disciplines early, which was “very important” when choosing their major at university and career development in the future.
As students have greater access to popular science activities, more of them are now interested in popular science, according to Tam, who pointed out that in the past, students had few opportunities to apply the theoretical knowledge after learning it in class, but in recent years, they can apply the theoretical knowledge by participating in after-school extracurricular classes and popular science competitions inside and outside of school, which helps students “deepen” the mastery of popular science knowledge.
A local Form Four student, surnamed Lo, told the media yesterday that even though her school pays attention to innovative technology, it seldom talks about aerospace development, adding that attending yesterday’s seminars can help students learn more about aerospace.
A male student, surnamed Ho, said that he usually receives aerospace-related information from news reports, adding that there was less space-related knowledge and education in Macau than elsewhere, which he thought needed to be strengthened.
Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Acting Director Teng Sio Hong addresses yesterday’s opening ceremony of the “China Space Day Special Activities 2023” at the Macau Science Centre in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
