DSEJ: Budgeting investment against GDP ‘impractical’

Budgeting education investment against the city’s gross domestic product (GDP) is impractical, Lou Pak Sang, director of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), said at a public event.
Although the GDP forecast for the city will be low, this year the government has made a relatively light cut to the city’s education budget, which is about 10% of last year’s budget.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the education sector will face a 1 billion pataca cut in 2021, as per the 2021 Budget bill presented by the government.
Meanwhile, using this year as an example, the education official explained that should a proportionate mechanism exist, next year’s education budget would see a huge cut.
He even cited the UN’s Incheon Declaration, which defines quality education and education goals, among other details, while advocating for an education investment ranging from 15% to 20% of the overall government budget.
Macau’s figure for education investment last year was 14%.
The education official also disclosed that the bureau has been striving towards educational equality, meaning that resource-rich schools should not be the only ones that can provide extraordinary opportunities to their students.
Future policies will work towards the goal, he added.
The DSEJ will be merged with the Higher Education Bureau on February 1 and renamed as the Education and Youth Development Bureau. AL