Lawmakers urge policies aligned with national strategies

With the Two Sessions concluded, a review of 27 preagenda speeches delivered at Friday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) found many lawmakers citing Beijing’s 15th Five-Year Plan and Macau’s third Five-Year Plan as justification for aligning local policy with national strategies.

Speeches covered a broad agenda, including development of the low-altitude economy, strengthening patriotic and pro-Macau forces, urban renewal, implementation of the “1+4” industrial plan to diversify the economy, deeper Macau-Hengqin integration, fostering new-quality productive forces, and addressing the falling birth rate.

Ho Ion Sang, vice-president of the AL, warned that Macau faces twin demographic challenges of an aging population and a steep decline in births.

“Last year’s 2,871 newborns – down more than 20% from 3,607 in 2024 – is the first time the figure has fallen below 3,000 and marks a record low,” he said.

As background, Ho has urged authorities to broaden talent and education policies to counter the trend.

He has previously called for the Macau Talent Card to offer enhanced services covering taxation, residency and entry/exit, children’s education, entrepreneurship, and healthcare and elderly care, and to become interoperable with Guangdong’s Talent Youyue Card. He also proposed expanding the Talent Endorsement policy for Mainland-Hong Kong-Macau travel and studying measures to facilitate research visits to Macau.

Speaking yesterday on education policy, Ho urged authorities to “actively discuss and plan school development strategies” with institutions. He recommended support for specialized and differentiated curricula, adoption of innovative teaching models, and measures to boost schools’ appeal to students.

He also suggested providing resources and incentives for eligible schools to convert into continuing-education centers, vocational training providers, or senior education institutions — thereby broadening educational services “from the school-age population to the entire population,” he said.

Citing reports that “some schools are facing difficulties in recruiting students,”

Ho described the demographic shift as a “significant opportunity” to raise education quality and modernize the system. He recommended the government introduce systematic teacher-training programs to strengthen multi-grade teaching capacity and overall adaptability, and to help teachers acquire new skills needed to teach across grade levels and subject areas.