Three schools are due to become “through-trains” as part of the Education Bureau’s major shake-up next year.
Luso-Chinese Vocational and Technical School, Luís Gonzaga Gomes Luso-Chinese Secondary School and Flora Luso-Chinese Primary School will each run kindergarten, primary and secondary classes from the start of the 2022/23 school year.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) plans to merge Macao’s 10 public schools, raising the number of “through-trains” to eight.
At present, only 10 of Macao’s 77 schools are public, while the rest are privately run.
According to the bureau, currently only two of the 10 public schools are “through-trains” – Seac Pai Van Public School in Coloane and Zheng Guanying Public School in Toi San.
In Cantonese jargon, “through-train” schools are also known as “one-dragon” schools.
The other eight public schools comprise two only running secondary classes, five only running kindergarten and primary classes, and one – Girassol Luso-Chinese Kindergarten – running a kindergarten.
The two public schools that currently only run secondary classes are Luso-Chinese Vocational and Technical School and Luís Gonzaga Gomes Luso-Chinese Secondary School.
The five public schools that currently only run kindergarten and primary classes are Flora Luso-Chinese Primary School, Sir Robert Ho Tung Luso-Chinese Primary School, Northern District Luso-Chinese Primary School, Taipa Luso-Chinese School, and Coloane Luso-Chinese School.
The bureau also said that from the next school year Sir Robert Ho Tung Luso-Chinese Primary School and Taipa Luso-Chinese School will continue to operate with kindergarten and primary classes, while the Girassol Luso-Chinese Kindergarten will continue to be a kindergarten.
According to the bureau, the Northern District Luso-Chinese Primary School will be merged with Luso-Chinese Vocational and Technical School – which is located in the peninsula’s Areia Preta district.
Flora Luso-Chinese Primary School and Taipa Luso-Chinese School will start running special needs classes in the next school year, which means that the city’s public education sector will have a school with special needs classes in the peninsula and in Taipa.
Education officials said that the new arrangement “will shorten the commute time” of special needs students who are currently enrolled in special needs classes in the Coloane Luso-Chinese School.
The bureau said that public schools are an important part of Macao’s education sector, underlining that the merger will not decrease the number of places in public schools available for students, neither will it decrease the number of teachers, The Macau Post Daily reported.
