IPM students protest social worker registration proposal

The students staged a protest yesterday

Up to 100 students from the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM) yesterday confronted officials from the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) during a special consultation session, held for students of the institute, concerning the proposed registration regime of social workers. They wore black clothes and held signs, demanding independence in determining their future professions.
This is the second consultation period for the government’s proposed registration system, which started in January and will end on February 13.
Soon after the beginning of yesterday’s session, just as the IAS deputy director Vong Yim Mui was due to give an opening speech, the IPM students stood up and turned their backs on Vong, in silence for several minutes.  Attached to their backs, they wore signs reading “professional independence.”
During the Q&A session, students raised many questions in relation to the social workers’ professional committee, as proposed in the consultation document, which suggests that the committee will have various responsibilities including the registration and discipline of social workers. Like participants in a previous consultation session for social workers held several days ago, the IPM students questioned the proposal.  The initiative will see all nine members of the committee appointed by the government. They said that this will damage their professional independence and the authority should at least allow social workers in Macau to elect some of the committee members.
There are also questions about the proposal to allow people without a bachelor’s degree in social work to register due to their experience in the field. Some participants said this might undermine the professionalism of social workers.
IAS officials replied that, according to the Basic Law, the MSAR government has to be the dominant party in all professional registration practices in Macau. They also said that the committee should not just consist of professionals with an educational background in social work since it has to consider the general interests of the public as well.
IAS director Iong Kong Io said that even though he is open to the suggestions made by students and professionals, he cannot make any promises regarding the outcome of the legislation, which must be reviewed by the Executive Council and be voted in by the Legislative Assembly.