DSEDJ study to examine ‘what goes on in young people’s minds’

The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) will conduct a study to understand what goes on in the minds of younger generations, Cheong Man Fai, chief of the DSEDJ’s Department of Youth, said yesterday in a press briefing after a Youth Council’s plenary meeting.

“We hope that through these new indicators [about youth in Macau] we can understand the mindset of young people,” Cheong said, adding, “We want to understand views on international matters and perspectives as well as their views about […] regional cooperation,” she concluded.

This idea of studying the mindset of young people in depth comes from the “System of Indicators about the Youth in Macau” which, according to DSEDJ, was discussed in the Youth Council meeting and prompted the inclusion of new indicators such as the relationship between parents and children, the competitiveness of young people, regional cooperation and diversified inclusion.

The DSEDJ explains the inclusion of these topics as “facilitating the global knowledge of young people’s development.”

According to DSEDJ, after this new adjustment to the indicators that inform youth policies, the system now has a total of 80 indicators in 11 different areas.

As for the Social Study of the Indicators about Youth in Macau, this will take place periodically, every two years, with the aim of collecting more accurate data for the indicators system and to allow better understanding of the course and trends of youth development.

Questioned by the media as to how these indicators could produce an effect in regards to tackling problems such as the mental health situation of students following the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cheong said, “We have discussed the mental health of students [in the meeting] and we recieved some suggestions.”

“We have added indicators such as the relationship between parents and children. […] Also, due to this issue, the survey we recently conducted shows that most students feel pressured, specifically in family life,” she added.

In the future, the bureau pledged that it will take further steps and dedicate more attention to family education.

As for the direct impact of the pandemic on students, the same official said that the DSEDJ has been cooperating with school institutions and associations to understand whether there are problems requiring immediate attention.

According to Cheong, citing the absence of any reports from school psychologists and councilors, “For the time being we have not detected any problems,” she said, advancing that the DSESJ is “trying to communicate with families to understand the extent of issues regarding unemployment and others that might be related with the impacts of the pandemic.”

Cheong also noted in the meeting that the interdepartmental follow-up group for Youth Policy has launched over 400 programs to implement this policy, which has reached an optimum result.

Extent of patriotic feelings still unknown

Another aspect in which the DSESJ wants to improve the Policy for Youth 2021-2030 concerns the promotion of patriotic feelings among young people.

“This is an area we added not long ago and that is still unknown,” the Division head of the DSEDJ’s Department of Youth, Io Iok Fong, said. “We will conduct surveys on this topic because, for the time being, we don’t have much data on the matter,” she continued. Io added that the survey would focus of the topic of “love for the country” and also on the extent of students’ knowledge about the country, as well as the country’s standing in several aspects and major national development and plans.

Pandemic prevention volunteering praised

Another of the topics on the agenda from the Youth Council meeting related to the volunteering work undertaken by students and schools in recent times with special praise to be noted for the work developed by the “young volunteers” on tasks related to pandemic prevention.

Special mention went to the work done during the population nucleic acid mass testing events and regarding the promotion of vaccination against Covid-19, in which, according to the Council, “young volunteers showed dedication, voluntary spirit and concern about the wellbeing of the population,” which “injected positive energy in the society and obtained recognition and praise by several sectors of society.”

Exodus of foreign teachers does not concern Youth Council

The media questioned the DSEDJ whether there was any discussion in the meeting on the recent exodus of foreign teachers, specifically from international schools, as a result of the pandemic policies adopted by Macau. The officials noted that this topic was off the table at the meeting and not under discussion, as “it does not concern youth policies.”

Nonetheless, DSEDJ officials present at the press briefing said that they would take note of the problem and try to respond at a later opportunity.