Lawmakers raise concerns over birthrate’s impact on education workforce

Kong Chi Meng

Several lawmakers have expressed concerns about how Macau’s low birthrate is already affecting the labor market, particularly schools and teaching staff.

In an inquiry initiated by lawmakers Song Pek Kei and Chan Lai Kei, the lawmakers noted that the low birthrate, particularly over the past 10 years, is already affecting the education sector and causing serious concerns among teachers and schools.

The lawmakers argued that the government’s plan to reconvert and merge schools as a solution is overly complex and unsuitable for most small-scale institutions, which lack sufficient financial resources to undergo such a transformation.

In response, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture O Lam announced a series of subsidies from the Education Fund to help schools and teachers cope with the impact of the restructuring of the local education sector.

O Lam

“We will introduce four support measures for the 2026–2027 school year,” O Lam said. “The Macau SAR government supports schools in hiring teaching staff and improving teaching conditions by allocating the base amount and the additional amount of the Free Schooling Subsidy, as well as funding to optimize student-teacher ratios under the Education Fund,” she said.

“In response to recent changes in the birth rate, the School Development Promotion Subsidy was established to fund schools with an insufficient number of students in their first year of kindergarten. In the 2026–2027 school year, transitional support measures for early childhood education subsidies will be introduced, extending the subsidy’s scope to second-year early childhood education classes that meet the requirements, with a view to ensuring job stability for teachers at affected schools,” the official added.

Song Pek Kei

O Lam added that, to assist teachers affected by reductions in the number of classes, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) is creating conditions to promote internal teacher mobility within the education system. The bureau will also organize training courses to support teachers seeking to teach at different educational levels or become inclusive education instructors.

The Secretary also announced that DSEDJ will hold a press conference this week to share details of the plans and subsidies, as well as a shared human resources platform that schools can use to recruit teachers for specific needs.

Responding to questions from several lawmakers, including Chan Hao Weng, José Pereira Coutinho and Loi I Weng, O Lam said that while the ongoing transformation of the local education sector presents challenges and some instability, it ultimately represents an opportunity to improve quality rather than focus on quantity.

DSEDJ director Kong Chi Meng added that the bureau is in talks with 11 schools that have expressed interest in joining the merger program. He said four of them have already made a decision and will implement mergers beginning in the upcoming school year.

Regarding the conversion of schools into continuing education centers or adult education facilities, Kong said this could be done during evening hours alongside regular daytime school activities.

He also suggested that adult education courses could be offered in partnership with local universities, which would help organize course offerings and curricula.

In response to a question from Pereira Coutinho regarding job protections for local residents, the DSEDJ director noted that this “will certainly be ensured,” adding that local teachers would always be given priority and that the recruitment of teachers from outside Macau would be permitted only in highly specialized fields and subjects “for which we do not have qualified local personnel.”

According to the latest report from the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), citing figures through the end of March, 2,265 non-resident workers (TNRs) were employed in Macau’s education sector, representing 36.2% of all specialized non-resident workers.

Without providing specific figures, DSAL also noted that the majority of these 2,265 specialized non-resident workers are employed as university professors and academic researchers.