The start of the new school year for non-tertiary education was delayed by three days due to Super Typhoon “Saola”, with over 90 percent of local kindergartens and primary and secondary education schools having started their academic year 2023-2024 yesterday, instead of September 1, Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng told the media on the sidelines of his visit to Choi Nong Chi Tai School on Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral yesterday morning.
According to education sector sources, the remainder will start the new school year later this month.
Kong pointed out that the situation in terms of students, schools and transport, as well as exclusive channels for cross-border students at the Barrier Gate, Qingmao and Hengqin border checkpoints in preparation for yesterday’s start of the new school year was “generally smooth”, adding that in response to the schools’ reopening after the about two-month-long summer holidays, his bureau had set up, in conjunction with the Public Security Police (PSP) and the Transport Bureau (DSAT), a range of arrangements in advance, including special measures by the police for vehicular traffic and the arrangement of parking spaces around schools in order to facilitate parents picking up and dropping off their children.
According to Kong, the total overall number of students and teachers in the current school year has increased “slightly”, in which the number of primary and secondary school students has been on the rise, while the number of kindergarten classes is similar to that of the previous school year. Kong did not reveal any specific figures.
Meanwhile, Kong also said that his bureau’s work this year will focus on the fine-tuning of the city’s “Formal Education Curriculum Framework” and basic academic requirements, hoping to strengthen sci-tech education including artificial intelligence (AI). He underlined that the new curriculum framework and basic academic requirements will not increase students’ length of time to study, nor will the number of courses be raised, but more sci-tech-related elements or more emphasis will be placed on the original courses.
Kong promised that his bureau will adhere to the consideration of students’ diversified learning, while reducing student study pressure, and ensuring students’ basic learning quality.
At the same time, Kong added, in view of the promotion of patriotic education, some supplementary teaching materials on the national security law (NSL) will also be added to the future curriculum framework and basic academic requirements, which he expects to launch over a two-year period.
70 pct of students don’t wear facemasks: school principal
“Our school opening ceremony was originally slated to take place on Friday, September 1,” Pui Ching Middle School Principal Kou Kam Fai told reporters on the school campus on Avenida de Horta e Costa yesterday morning, adding that due to the typhoon-induced delay to the start of the current school year, his school welcomed this academic year’s first full school day yesterday, even though its opening ceremony was cancelled.
Kou, a government-appointed member of the local legislature, said he visually estimated that about 70 percent of his students did not wear their facemasks, which, he added, had not been seen for three years.
Previously, there was a high proportion of kindergarten and junior primary school students wearing their facemasks when having classes, which, Kou pointed out, was still part of their habit.
Kou was quick to add that although the COVID-19 pandemic was now “relatively stable”, the hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), influenza and other diseases were still in the high incidence period, underlining that his school would keep reminding its students to continue carrying out good personal hygiene.
Asked by reporters about the increase of people committing suicide in recent years, Kou stressed that the school has been in close contact with the DSEDJ, the Health Bureau (SSM) and the police since the pandemic started to hit Macau at the beginning of 2020, adding that his school will gradually increase more outings this year, which he expected to help improve students’ physical and mental health.
Moreover, Kou revealed that his school’s international section in a new building in Coloane will be put into operation in September next year.
Meanwhile, according to a DSAT statement, over 120,000 public bus passengers were recorded in a total of 2,021 trips by the city’s public bus operators between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. yesterday, an increase of 10 percent over the same period last year. The statement noted that among the public bus passengers, more than 15,000 paid their fare with the student version of Macau Pass, an increase of nearly 30 percent over the same period last year.
The statement noted that the increase in bus trips yesterday morning indicated an increase of 8 percent compared with the same period on weekdays and a decrease of 4 percent compared with the same period last year, with the largest number of passengers recorded on the No. 3, MT4, 10, 25 and 33 routes, as well as at bus stops in the Barrier Gate area, Praça de Ferreira do Amaral, and the Hengqin border checkpoint in Cotai.
Vehicular traffic conditions were “mostly smooth” during the rush-hour traffic between 7:45 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. yesterday, the statement pointed out.
Students rush to their school yesterday morning for the first school day in the academic year 2023/2024. – Photo: Yuki Lei
Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng talks to the media on the sidelines of visiting Choi Nong Chi Tai (Vegetable Farmer’s Children) School on Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral yesterday. – Photo: MPDG
Pui Ching Middle School Principal Kou Kam Fai, a government-appointed member of the local legislature, speaks to reporters on the school campus on Avenida de Horta e Costa yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
