Directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s1st Standing Committee, said yesterday that the government would study the committee’s suggestion on upgrading the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) to a university.
IFTM is currently a public institution of higher education, offering degrees in tourism, heritage and hospitality. IFTM’s former name was Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), which was set up by the government in 1995. In 1982, the government had set up the Tourism and Hotel School (ETIH), which 13 years later became IFT.
Lei made the remarks during a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting by the committee which is reviewing an amendment bill regulating the institute, with the attendance of Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U and other government officials.
Lei quoted the government officials who attended yesterday’s meeting as saying that the upgrading was worth studying, and the requirements for the establishment of a university, such as teaching staff and curriculum, would be provided by the goverenment as requested by the committee.
Lei quoted the officials as saying that the government was considering whether to elevate IFTM to university status, such as what benefits it would entail and how the upgrade would promote the development of IFTM.
Some committee members said they hoped that the government would provide information on the teaching staff, curriculum and physical space required for IFTM to become a university, and were concerned about the adequacy of the existing school premises. Lei quoted the officials as saying that the government would provide relevant information and pointing out that the former Jubilee Building that used to be part of the old campus of the University of Macau (UM) in Taipa has already been allocated to IFTM for teaching and other purposes, apart from the fact that several tenders have been launched for the building’s renovation projects.
Besides, Lei said, some of the committee members expressed concern about the autonomy of IFTM. Lei quoted the government officials as stressing that the existing autonomy of IFTM would be retained, but that the academic, teaching, administrative, financial and disciplinary arrangements would still be subject to certain supervision by the government.
Some committee members also expressed concern about the admission ratio, Lei said. She quoted the government officials as saying that as IFTM is a public tertiary institution, the policy of giving preference to local students would not change.
Lei also quoted the officials as saying that in line with the market-orientated development direction of IFTM, the proportion of overseas students in its overall student population would be adjusted, but this would not affect the preference for local students, nor would it affect the established practice of local students enjoying preferential admission and tuition fee concessions.
It would be the third time that a local tertiary education institutions becomes a university.
The public Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM) was renamed as Macao Polytechnic University (UPM) on March 1 last year.
The private Catholic University of Saint Joseph (USJ) became a university in 2009. Initially, it was known as the Macau Inter-University Institute.
Currently, there five higher institutions in Macau have the rank of a university, namely the University of Macau (UM), Macau University of Science and Techonology (MUST), Macao Polytechnic University (MPU), University of Saint Joseph (USJ) and City University of Macau (CityU).
This undated handout photo downloaded from Wikipedia last night shows the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) campus on Mong Ha Hill.
