AL PLENARY | Higher education bill approved amid doubts over financing scheme

The bill governing higher education in Macau passed its first reading yesterday, but legislators raised doubts regarding local universities’ funding scheme, while also expressing concern over the implementation of an assessment system addressing local tertiary education institutions.
A recently published Commission of Audit (CA) report – which showed that the University of Macau (UM) failed to properly manage public money – triggered a more intense debate at the AL yesterday. Lawmakers welcomed the drafting of the Higher Education Bill, particularly because the current legislation dates back to 1991. However, they worry about the local universities’ financing scheme, as well as how the government intends to supervise the correct implementation and management of public money and resources by both private and public education institutions.
José Pereira Coutinho recalled that the current legislation mentions which entity is responsible for funding local universities, but in the drafted bill “it’s not made clear who [will be financing them].”
“How and who will be providing funds to public and private education institutions? We are talking about public money, so we need to demand quality standards from private universities. They need to have more responsibility since they’re been funded with public money,” he stressed.
The lawmaker suggested that the government unify entities providing funding to universities. “It’s better to centralize so that only one institution will provide the funding [to avoid donations coming from different parties],” he acknowledged.
Lawmaker Au Kam San also recalled that there should be a management scheme to ensure that universities do not work “without any management [policies].” “The bill only states that universities will be granted academic, scientific and financial autonomy… but I fail to see here the mechanisms and schemes to supervise [universities’ work] and for management control. Does the government have any plan to meet this goal?” he questioned.
The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, told lawmakers that the government pays great attention to the supervision and financing of local tertiary education institutions as Macau is in dire need of talent and of investing in people’s professional training.
Any budget allocation, he recalled, should be closely monitored as it regards “the use of the public treasury and therefore [universities] have to present requests [for funding] and draft reports so that we conduct rigorous supervision.”
Mr Tam added that according to international standards, universities should be academically and financially autonomous, and that Macau is following in the footsteps of other countries in this matter. Following a statement by lawmaker Lei Cheng I, who raised doubts over the financing schemes, the Secretary stated that when funding is granted to universities, it does not mean that there’s no supervision afterward. “We have a rigorous service in Macau, and education institutions have to submit budget proposals to the government. There’s a proper department responsible for that task,” he recalled.
The coordinator of the Tertiary Education Services Bureau (GAES), Mr Sou Chio Fai, added that each education institution has to present annual reports regarding its financial management. Funds are granted “only after the government revises their budget plans.”
Lawmakers demanded further clarifications from the government following the Commission of Audit report on UM’s management of public resources. The report released this week stated that UM failed to better manage public money when granting housing units to staff who already owned a home, or when it created a research institute in Zhuhai as a private company, and also in its handling of the University of Macau Development Foundation, whose operation cannot be supervised or overseen by UM as it was created as a private legal entity.
Alexis Tam said that his office has already requested that the university draft a report addressing the Commission of Audit’s suggestions and criticism. Furthermore, the secretary assured that his legal advisers are already conducting a study to understand whether UM incurred any illegality. “I ask you to give us a little bit more time, as in one or two weeks we will be able to release the results to society,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers also raised criticism over a particular norm in the bill that could allow universities to sell parts of its property. With several lawmakers raising the same issue, Mr Tam acknowledged that before the bill is tabled for a second reading, they can further discuss this norm, and perhaps remove it from the bill.
The new piece of legislation comes to introduce an assessment scheme for higher education institutions. Lawmakers showed concern over whether the government is ready to implement the assessment system. Mr Sou Chio Fai assured legislators that instructions for the assessment scheme have been prepared and that they will have a plan ready for this year. “We already prepared work [on the assessment scheme] as it is very important to ensure the quality of local educations institutions,” he stressed.
The local higher education institutions’ assessment scheme will be governed through complementary administrative decree.
“The assessment scheme is intended at support education institutions to achieve defined goals and through this assessment we are looking to advance the quality of our higher education,” Alexis Tam reiterated.