News

The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the “DSEJ”) held two school meetings on class resumption at the Millennium Hall of Santa Rosa de Lima College (Chinese Section) on 28^th and 29^th April respectively. In the meetings, the DSEJ discussed with the persons-in-charge or representatives of the 77 schools in Macao about the details of the work of class resumption, including the arrangement for teaching and non-teaching staff and cross-border students to take the nucleic acid testing, sharing experience obtained from the simulation drill of class resumption, cleaning of school premises, implementation of the friendly measure, student assessment and suggestions for promotion/retention as well as the epidemic prevention measures that cross-border teachers and students have to follow before returning to school, to ensure smooth resumption of classes in May.
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Talented people are the primary resource that drives the development of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and they are at the core of the city’s competitiveness. The University of Macau (UM) shoulders the important task of producing talented graduates with a love for their country, a global mindset, and international competitiveness. To achieve this, UM has formulated a series of strategies.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated a total of 112 hotels & guesthouses were open for business in March (two other establishments were designated for medical observation for the whole month), and number of available guest rooms decreased by 13.2% year-on-year to 34,000. Data on hotels & guesthouses used for medical observation were excluded in the compilation of the following statistics. The average occupancy rate of guest rooms fell by 67.6 percentage points year-on-year to 23.2%, yet representing an increase of 8.0 percentage points compared to February (15.2%). The rate of 5-star hotels (16.9%) tumbled by 74.9 percentage points, while the rates of 2-star hotels (47.9%) and guesthouses (46.1%) dropped merely by 27.1 percentage points and 19.6 percentage points respectively.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that licensed motor vehicles in Macao totalled 241,350 as at end-March 2020, an increase of 1.1% year-on-year. Light automobiles (110,032) and heavy motorcycles (100,238) rose by 1.8% and 2.5% respectively, whereas light motorcycles (23,691) dropped by 6.4%. New registration of motor vehicles in March reduced by 14.3% year-on-year to 977, with that of heavy motorcycles (524) and light automobiles (366) falling by 19.4% and 9.9% respectively. In the first quarter of 2020, new registration of motor vehicles decreased by 24.8% year-on-year to 2,326. Number of traffic accidents in March declined by 41.1% year-on-year to 646, and number of injuries totalled 237. In the first quarter, there were 2,089 traffic accidents, involving 734 victims and 3 of them were killed.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise import fell by 40.1% year-on-year to MOP4.22 billion in March 2020, of which imports of Mobile phones, Gold jewellery and Watches declined by 78.0%, 76.6% and 61.3% respectively. On the other hand, imports of Other textile made-up articles, which comprised mostly face masks, surged by 365.2%. Total merchandise export amounted to MOP1.08 billion, down by 9.0% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP941 million) went down by 12.2%, with that of Machines, apparatus & parts reducing by 46.2%. Meanwhile, value of domestic exports (MOP139 million) rose by 20.6%, with that of Garments jumping by 1,015.5%. Merchandise trade deficit in March totalled MOP3.14 billion.
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The CCAC detected a case where persons in charge of a local education centre and almost 200 residents allegedly defrauded subsidies from the Continuing Education Development Plan. The education centre involved offered cash kickbacks to the persons who applied for the courses it launched. As a result, it successfully obtained the relevant subsidies granted by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ). The alleged scam involved a sum of more than MOP1 million.
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To support the development of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the University of Macau (UM) has formulated a strategic research blueprint for the integration of science, technology, humanities and social sciences. While continuing to develop disciplines with a competitive edge, UM will also give priority to some emerging disciplines, with increased support for interdisciplinary subjects that cover humanities, social sciences, and science and technology, in order to meet the current trends in society. UM’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (IAS) aims to create a university-level, cross-faculty research platform. In the initial stage, the institute will develop three signature research clusters, namely Chinese civilisation in multicultural mèlange, convergence of humanities and sciences, and Macao from a global perspective. The institute recently launched a Fellowship Scheme to attract world-class talent in related fields.
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Due to the impact of novel coronavirus pandemic, many performers will not be able to visit Macao. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) decided to cancel the “Children’s Day Concert: Conductor’s Spellbook” and the Concert “Italian Romance”.
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