UM promises to be Macau’s university, 80pct students are local
26/06/2013Macau Daily Times
The University of Macau’s rector Zhao Wei has promised that UM will still be Macau’s university after moving into the new Hengqin campus later this year. Zhao made an assurance that at least 80 percent of students are locals and will remain so, and that many of the facilities will be available for use by other Macau schools and research institutes.
Zhao made the pledges in an interview with Ou Mun (Macao Daily News), during which he said that the existing policy of capping the ratio of foreign students at 20 percent would not change, even after moving to the new campus, which is technically situated within the neighboring mainland city of Zhuhai.
He was responding to a number of mainland media reports claiming that UM would reinforce its efforts to recruit students in Guangdong province after relocating to the new campus. The new campus will be 20 times larger in area than the university’s current headquarters and will accommodate approximately 10,000 students within three years.
The scholar admitted to the local newspaper that, given the decreasing number of local secondary school students and the continuing expansion of tertiary institutions in the city, he expected the schools to face higher pressure in the competition for new local students. As a result, many schools will have to admit a greater percentage of non-local students in order to meet the shortfall. However, he said that UM’s intention to enroll more Guangdong students will not upset the “80 percent policy” because the university will accordingly adjust the number of new recruits from other provinces and regions to keep the balance.
In addition to the ratio of local to non-local students, UM will also take other measures to keep the University’s orientation primarily fixed on Macau.
Zhao said that the school would undergo a curriculum reform within two years, aiming to cultivate new talents in the city. The structural change will make UM’s postgraduate courses more applicable in vocational settings. More classes will be conducted in the evening and weekends, and tuition fees will be calculated in accordance with the credits obtained by students. The rector said that such changes would bring their education system closer to the market demands. Zhao also promised that most postgraduate courses would be reserved for local students. Copyright@MACAU DAILY TIMES
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