Government to gradually introduce 15-year free education

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, said today the Government would introduce the policy of 15-year free education in an orderly manner. Mr Chui said this today during a plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly to propose a Bill on the framework of Macao's non-tertiary education. According to the Bill, which was approved unanimously, free education would be extended to the first and second year of kindergarten, retroactive to the academic year 2005/2006. The Chief Executive had earlier announced in his Policy Address that Macao students would enjoy free education in senior high school no later than the academic year 2009/2010, which would in turn extend the free education system to 15 years, covering tuition fees for Macao students from kindergarten to senior high school. Under the proposed Bill, the Government would set up a foundation for the development of non-tertiary education system, with a start-up budget of MOP1.5 billion for the first four years. The Bill, to promote the modernisation of Macao's education system, has also categorised non-tertiary education into 'regular' education and 'continuing' education. For regular education, the Bill proposed a framework consisting of a three-year programme for pre-school, six-year programme for primary education, three-year for junior high school education and three-year programme for senior high school education. According to the Bill, the Chief Executive through an order would regulate the timetable for the introduction of the framework. It also proposed a transition period of no less than five years. Moreover, it would regulate the objectives of education, methods of funding, qualifications and training of teachers, curriculum, development of schools and other related areas. Regulations would be introduced in the future to regulate the qualifications, types, workload, benefits and evaluation of teachers. The proposed Bill amends Law No. 11/91/M, currently in effect and regulated Macao's education system since 1991. The Government started a review of Macao's education system in 2002 and later published a consultative document and a draft of the law to gather opinions from all the sectors of the public. The First Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly would discuss the Bill before returning it to the plenary for an article-by-article vote.