National education | University of Macau to require all students to learn Basic Law

The University of Macau will add classes on the National Constitution and the Basic Law to the curriculum of the general education course this academic year. The course will be compulsory for all undergraduate students.

The move comes as national security education is being promoted to students in Macau of all ages.

Knowledge of the National Constitution and the Basic Law are considered to fall under the general bracket of national security education.

National security promotion involves co-opting the civilian population to fulfill their patriotic duty and be on the lookout for anything that could undermine the country’s stability.

President Xi Jinping previously outlined that “national security is of paramount importance for the people to live and work in peace and for realizing the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.”

Vong Sou Kuan, Assistant Professor at the University of Macau’s Faculty of Education, indicated that the Macau government started to systematically implement national education in 2006. In that year, the government amended the educational laws and pinpointed the cultivation of patriotic students.

Recently, according to Vong, teaching staff from the mainland have been employed by local schools. This has altered the culture of teaching and preparation. She even described the ideology in Macau schools as similar to that in mainland schools.

Vong objects to this change, regarding it as over the top. She also worried that a single curriculum would obstruct students’ adaptability to the increasingly globalized society.

Lawmaker Au Kam San, who is also a secondary school teacher, told the media that civil education is common in Macau, as more than half of the city’s secondary schools are run by pro-government associations.

An academic at the Macau Polytechnic Institute attributed Macau’s patriotism to the weakness of the Portuguese in governance.

Hong Kong newspaper Mingpao Daily recently wrote a report concluding that Macau was ahead of Hong Kong in terms of national security education. The report is part of a serial review conducted to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

Macau’s education authority has included ethics and civil education in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools. According to the report, some Macau schools with Catholicism or Protestantism background have opted to combine the curriculum with religious studies. In such cases, the civil education section will be lectured as “Knowing China”.

The newspaper interviewed the principal, surnamed Lai, of Kiang Peng Middle School. Lai said that the school previously used textbooks printed in Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Lai then indicated that currently 90% of schools in Macau are using history textbooks co-compiled by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) and the People’s Education Press in the mainland.

Lai said that although the DSEJ did not mandate the adoption of the textbook and teaching materials, the regulator strongly recommends their use. AL