Continuing Education program stable and gathering support

The Continuing Education Development Plan initiative, which was implemented almost eight years ago by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), has been running consistently with the support and interest of the public. This was mentioned by the director of operations of eRS  Solutions  Macau, Fong Si Man, who is responsible for the evaluation of the program, in a press conference after the plenary meeting of the Non-tertiary Education Council.

Fong was at the meeting to hold a mid-term evaluation of the third phase of the plan.

According to the DSEJ, the plan has been steadily registering growth in terms of the percentage of the population it has reached, from 36% in the first phase to 41% in the second phase, and stabilizing at 40% currently. There are as many as 150,000 participants registered in the third phase of the plan.

According to the DSEJ, the figures represent a “good result and show that the program has been contributing to the career ladder and talent training,” the head of the bureau’s Department of Education, Kong Ngai, added.

Questioned by the media on the topic, the director of the Centre of Documentation, Information and Public Relations, Tsang Hio Ian, said the program is under a rigorous inspection that found a total of 35 cases of infractions that were forwarded for criminal investigation. However, in general, the program has been running well and lawfully, noting the over 100,000 courses held.

Remarking on the same topic, Kong added, “the majority of the 35 cases [with] reported fraud are due to document forgery,” adding, “the rate of infraction is very low.”

Fong added that according to the evaluation and surveys conducted, “90% of the people in Macau know and are knowledgeable about [the Continuing Education Development Plan initiative] and they support it.”

Fong also noted the reduction registered in the average amount spent by the trainees (MOP4,100), which fell about MOP300 when compared to the previous phase. “It has to do with a normal adjustment in the plan,” Fong said, concluding that, “the reduction on the subsidy given is a result of the evaluation done in which we concluded that the majority of people in the first phases could not make use of the full [subsidized] amount. This played in favor of the adjustment.”

According to the results, residents below the age of 39 have a participation rate of over 60%, since most of them seek technical and professional level courses that offer professional certification.