The Legislative Assembly (AL) passed the government’s bill on the city’s tertiary education sector, slated to come into effect only one year after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO), during a plenary session on Thursday.
According to The Macau Post Daily, the bill’s outline was passed during a plenary session of the legislature in February 2015. The legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee held 27 meetings to review the bill.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng introduced the bill to the legislature on Thursday.
The new Tertiary Education System Law will replace a decree law regulating the city’s tertiary education sector dating back to 1991.
According to the new piece of legislation, higher diploma programmes (known as “bacharelato” in Portuguese) are to be abolished.
However, the new law allows tertiary education institutions to run associate degrees, which are required to last at least two years.
According to the new law, students who pass their associate degrees can apply to study in a bachelor’s degree programme in the same field from year three.
Bachelor’s degree courses last four years.
The new law stipulates that the city’s tertiary education institutions and their programmes are to be subject to a formal evaluation mechanism, the operation of which is to be regulated by a by-law later.
