The next phase of the government’s continuing education subsidy scheme will remain at 6,000 patacas for residents, as residents participating in the scheme have only spent an average of just 4,000 patacas each, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday.
Ao Ieong made the announcement during an oral interpellation hearing in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday afternoon.
The current phase, the fourth phase of its continuing education subsidy scheme, was launched in September in 2020, which entitles local residents aged at least 15 to get a 6,000-pataca subsidy to enrol in courses run by the city’s various continuing education institutions until the end of August 2023.
The government first launched the subsidy scheme in 2011 which ran until the end of 2013, with each person then able to receive a 5,000-pataca subsidy. The subsidy was raised to the current 6,000 patacas in 2014 when the scheme’s second phase was launched. The scheme’s third phase started in 2017 and ran until the end of 2019.
Ao Ieong underlined that the scheme, aimed at enhancing residents’ literacy and encouraging lifelong learning, also increased job-orientated courses in recent years. However, Ao Ieong added, for more professional job-orientated courses, residents can apply for certificate courses provided by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) and the Talents Development Committee, and the latter can provide each participant with a subsidy of up to 8,000 patacas to obtain certificates covering high-tech, network engineering, and language and vocational skills.
Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng said he agreed that educational resources cannot be focused only on vocational training, adding that the government had been opening certificate courses for residents to participate in, including over 800 local certificate courses and over 1,300 certified courses outside Macau, which are valid in the mainland and internationally as well, which was believed to be helpful for residents who pursue their career development in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Ao Ieong used the two-year nursing certificate courses offered by the Macao Polytechnic University’s (MPU) as an example, which Ao Ieong said were designed to meet the needs of the community, adding that she believes the participants are adults who want to change their careers or are unemployed, and that the courses were well-attended. The policy secretary described them as “more successful than I imagined”.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U speaks during yesterday’s plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
