Letter to the Editor | IPM’s response to Quartermain’s accusations

Dear Sir,

Under article 20º of Law n.º 7/90/M, of August 6, I hereby use my lawful right to reply to the news published by Macau Daily Times, on July 31, 2018, page 3, regarding the statements made by Mr. David Quartermain, about Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI). Consequently, I request the below statement to be published in one of the two subsequent publications of your newspaper in accordance with the law:

It is not true that David Quartermain was a “professor” at Macao Polytechnic Institute. Nor was he full-time faculty, according to the existing Personnel Charter of Macao Polytechnic Institute. It appears that, perhaps due to the specialized nature of his work, that he has not provided a clear understanding of the overall picture of teaching and scientific research work at MPI. This may have led to his ungrounded statements and complaints about MPI. In actual fact, he was an ESP Trainer at the MPI-Bell Centre of English, and as such was hired by MPI on the basis of the Contract of Management between Bell Educational Services, Cambridge, and Macao Polytechnic Institute. This means he only had responsibilities for English language training.

MPI-Bell Centre of English was established in 2003 through the Contract of Management between Bell Educational Services Ltd and Macao Polytechnic Institute. Under the provisions of this, MPI granted David Quartermain a fixed-­term contract in June, 2003, which was then renewed multiple times by mutual consent.

David Quartermain informed the MPI Board of Management by letter on April 11, 2018, of his intention to resign from his job and unilaterally terminate the contract. As a result, the heading that states “End of contract, reason unknown” for David Quartermain cannot be the true story.

David Quartermain did not give a true description about the work at the Gaming Teaching and Research Centre (GTRC). After David Quartermain agreed in writing to work at GTRC in November 2016, on the basis of a new contract, the MPI Board of Management ended his appointment as the Deputy Director at MPI-Bell Centre of English and assigned him to GTRC as an ESP trainer. Due to his qualifications and experience in English teaching, GTRC arranged for him to teach English to a class of foreign students. At the same time, he was asked to do a range of other tasks, such as revising and proofreading English manuscripts, working a total 36 hours a week. All of the other teachers at GTRC carry a full workload. In addition, The Gaming Teaching and Research Centre at Macao Polytechnic Institute has always dealt with all cases of suspected cheating according to the relevant MPI Regulations. In the 2017/2018 academic year, three cases of suspected cheating were flagged up at GTRC; two of them have been dealt with seriously – the students involved have been disciplined. The third case is in the process of appeal according to the MPI Regulations. Therefore, there has been no cover up of students cheating. David Quartermain’s complaints about cheating at GTRC cannot, therefore, be true.

The MPI-Bell Centre of English has investigated the alleged behavioral incident in Xinjiang and has concluded that no such reported incident occurred during the period in question. In October 2017, a complaint was made regarding the alleged inappropriate use of a slang term from a pop song. The Centre’s management immediately met with both parties involved after receiving the complaint. Following the established procedures, a written notice was issued. All parties accepted this outcome.

On behalf of                   

Macao Polytechnic Institute

LEI HEONG IOK

PRESIDENT

Editor’s Note: We publish the letter from IPM in full in accordance with the invoked legislation. However, part of the IPM’s allegations were published by MDT on August 6 (“IPM planning to file lawsuit against whistleblower,” page 3). Moreover, in his letter, Dr Lei Heong Iok confirms that some of the facts which we exposed did occur, but he has a different version of events for each matter and declares that all issues were dealt with. Dr Lei also says “the heading that states ‘End of contract, reason unknown’ for David Quartermain cannot be the true story.” I commend a re-reading of the text to Dr Lei, which refers to Mr Quartermain’s dismissal as deputy director of MPI-Bell Center in 2016 and not to his quitting IPM in July 2018. Last, but not least, IPM failed to comment upon and clarify other issues and accusations much more important to the public, like the hiring of unqualified teachers, lack of teacher and student assessment, as well as “guangxi” over merit-based promotions. We tried to make inquires to the institute on those matters, but so far, we have received no answer. PC