Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that 247 teachers have taken up to a year out to participate in a government-subsidised training programme in the 2023/2024 academic year to pursue further studies while still receiving their pay.
Ao Ieong made the remarks while responding to an oral interpellation during a plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle yesterday, adding that nearly 1,000 teachers have participated in the programme since 2007.
During the plenary session, lawmaker Song Pek Kei suggested that the government should consider revising Macau’s non-tertiary education system to attract more non-local students to enrol in local schools, in view of the falling number of local non-tertiary students.
Ao Ieong said that any adjustment to the system should be discussed and studied only on the basis of a consensus in civil society, adding that such an adjustment would mean that local students needed to compete with their non-local counterparts for non-tertiary education places.
Lawmaker Leong Sun Iok raised the issue that teenagers spend too much time on their smartphones, which might expose them to “undesirable” information. Leong suggested monitoring teenagers’ use of mobile phones, such as requiring network operators to set up filtering tools, and also urged the government to strengthen cooperation with the city’s schools.
Ao Ieong responded that family education could be used as a starting point, but cautioned that the adoption of a “paternalistic” approach might be counter-productive, as parents and children needed communication, understanding and companionship.
Ao Ieong also gave an insight into her own parenting method, as her children did not have mobile phones until they were in high school, adding that she set up computers in her living room at home rather than the children’s bedroom, so as to keep track of their activities.
At the same time, Ao Ieong said that the government has also made efforts to cultivate youngsters’ cyber literacy, enhance the professionalism and effectiveness of parenting education, and optimise the work of student counselling teams.
