Ao Ieong dispels public worries over recruitment of mainland teachers

The recruitment of 27 teachers from mainland China to offer local teachers tutelage on assistance and counseling by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) has ignited worries in the local community, speculating that the move would undermine employment opportunities for locals.
The public disquiet came after the DSEJ published a dispatch through the Official Gazette on Wednesday, stating that the department has hired a total of 27 teachers from China under individual service contracts – which span from October 20 this year to August 31 next year.
When asked about this matter by the media at a Macau Grand Prix event yesterday, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ao Ieong U rebutted the negative suggestions, saying the hiring is part of a long-
established teacher exchange program between Macau and China.
Ao Ieong explained that the employed mainland teachers have predominantly been in charge of works regarding class preparation and observation, with a focus on three subjects — Chinese, History and Geography.
The 27 mainland teachers would not be teaching local students, as they were employed only to give guidance on local teaching programs, and advance the city’s teaching standards by using their expertise in education, she added.
The Secretary stressed that they would return to China after the completion of each round of the program, which typically lasts around one to three years.
Some locals, infuriated by the scheme, expressed disagreement on a social media platform, arguing that the move is “redundant,” as Macau is home to many competent teachers who are as well-versed in Chinese and History. Hiring teachers from China may deprive locals of work, they claimed.
On the other side, some claimed the program prompted rage in the community as the lives of grassroots have been upended by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The city’s overall unemployment rate between July and September reached 2.9%, with residents’ unemployment rate standing at 4.1%, each up 0.1 percentage point from the previous surveyed period of June to August, according to the Statistics and Census Service.
The scheme was rolled out in the 2008/09 academic year, with the support of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (MOE).
The program operates a voluntary basis whereby local schools may sign up if interested. Every year, the MOE issues recruitment notices for country-wide educational administrative units, based on the yearly demand requested by the DSEJ.
According to another official announcement published on the same day following Ao Ieong’s remarks, the number of mainland teachers who engaged in undertakings in Macau’s local schools averaged 20 or so each year. Their workplaces ranged from kindergartens to secondary schools, and their teaching touched on a wide range of subjects.
In the academic year of 2020/2021, a total of 40 local schools participated in the program, up from some 20 recorded in the debut year.
The scheme was “welcomed by local education institutes”, with the official announcement citing that 70% of them had joined the scheme.
The teachers from mainland China will be paid by the DSEJ. Staff Reporter