Chapter 3　Composition of non-tertiary Education

Section 1　Types of education
Article 5　Types

The types of education are:
1) Formal education;
2) Continuing education.

Sub-section 1　Formal education
Article 6　Scopes and levels

1. Formal education is the education received by the school-aged students mentioned in Clause No. 1 to 5 of Article 18, in accordance with the standard curriculums and education levels, as well as the number of years of education.

2. Formal education is divided into the following levels:
1) Infant education;
2) Primary education;
3) Secondary education, including junior secondary education and senior secondary education.

3. The learning periods of infant education, junior secondary school and senior secondary school are three years respectively; the learning period for primary education is 6 years.

Article 7　Infant education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, the objectives of infant education are in particular:
1) To cultivate students’ basic ethical concept and moral behaviour;
2) To nurture the habit and characteristics of getting along well with others;
3) To develop hygienic habits and to promote the physical and mental health;
4) To foster the interest of learning and creativity, to develop their various potentials;
5) To increase the daily life experience;
6) To enhance the language and other communicative capacity;
7) To bring up students’ interest in art;
8) To cultivate the basic concept of environmental protection.

2. In the level of infant education, schools and teachers should be aware if the infants are gifted, unadapted, retarded or handicapped, so as to provide them with appropriate guidance.

3. In the level of infant education, students should not be demanded to repeat in the same grade, unless requested by the parents.

Article 8　Primary education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, the objectives of primary education are in particular:
1) To develop the basic civic consciousness, to foster self-esteem and the love for others, Macao, the nation, as well as the nature;
2) To cultivate students’ moral character, to nurture the attitude of harmonious coexistence with others and the environment, as well as the spirit of social service;
3) To foster the interest and habit of enquiry and thinking, so as to promote their creativity;
4) To enable students to grasp the rudimentary knowledge and various learning skills of natural science, humanities and society;
5) To provide students with diverse learning opportunities, to promote the development of their personality and individual potentials;
6) To promote physical and psychological healthy development; 7
) To cultivate the capability of adapting to different environments;
8) To enable students to make good use of time, to foster good life and learning habits;
9) To enrich the experience of appreciating the beauty, to cultivate the interest of art.

2. Students having completed and passed the primary education have the right to acquire the corresponding diploma according to the criteria established by the school in accordance with the appropriate legislation.

Article 9　Junior secondary education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, the objectives of junior secondary education are in particular:
1) To foster good personal characters and the sense of self-esteem, to enable them to be optimistic and enterprising, to care about others and the development of Macao and the nation, to be enthusiastic in social participation and concern about ecological environment;
2) To develop the spirit of reasoning, initiative in learning and daring to innovate, as well as the attitude and capability of life-long learning;
3) To enable students to grasp the knowledge related to the various areas of life, to enhance the capability in using the knowledge of language, information technology and other areas in daily life;
4) To assist students to adapt to the physical and mental development, to enhance the quality of body and mind, as well as the ability of problem solving;
5) To provide diverse educational modes, to promote the development of personality and the ability of autonomous choice;
6) To promote the understanding of pluralistic culture, to enhance the humanistic and artistic accomplishments.

2. Students having completed and passed the junior secondary education have the right to acquire the corresponding diploma according to the criteria established by the school in accordance with the appropriate legislation.

Article 10　Senior secondary education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, the objectives of senior secondary education are in particular:
1) To enhance the national consciousness, global vision and awareness of environmental protection, strengthen the understanding of and the sense of belonging to Macao, to enable them to become responsible citizens;
2) To elevate students’ moral accomplishment, to enable them to establish the concept of career development;
3) To foster sustained development of psychological health and personality, to develop the characteristics of bravery, determination, ardent love for life and creativity;
4) To promote the understanding in the areas of mathematics, natural science, social science, technology and humanity, etc., to cultivate the capability for furthering studies or employment;
5) To nurture the capacity of collecting, sorting and analysing information, and further enhance the capacity of making use of information technology, to develop the habits of self-learning and cooperation study, to promote lifelong development;
6) To enable students to develop healthy life habits and possess strong physique;
7) To enhance the accomplishment of humanity, especially the accomplishment of art, to strengthen the understanding of pluralistic culture and the pursuit of cultural innovation.

2. Courses of vocational and technical education can be established in senior secondary education.

3. Students having completed and passed the senior secondary education have the right to acquire the corresponding diploma according to the criteria established by the school in accordance with the appropriate legislation.

Article 11　Vocational and technical education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, vocational and technical education aims to cultivate technicians of intermediate level, providing both integral development and vocational guidance, to enable students to possess the necessary basic knowledge, capacity and professional spirit for engaging in a certain profession.

2. Vocational and technical education should consider students’ need to advance in higher education.

3. Courses of vocational and technical education can be established in schools of formal education and recurrent education.

4. Students having completed and passed the vocational and technical education have the right to acquire the senior secondary diploma and certificate of professional- technical qualification according to the criteria established by the school in accordance with the appropriate legislation.

Article 12　Special education

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, special education aims to provide appropriate education opportunity for the development of body and mind to students with special education need, to assist them to integrate in the society, to develop their potentials, to compensate for the limitations and to partake in employment.

2. The targets of special education include gifted students, and students with physical and mental limitations, they are to be assessed by the authorised public department of the government or the entity designated by the education authority.

3. Special education is to be carried out preferentially in regular schools in the form of inclusive education; it can also be carried out in special education institutions in other forms.

4. The curriculums, teaching materials, methodology and assessment of special education should match with the characteristics of each individual student, to develop his/her potentials and assist him/her to integrate in the society.

5. The government will create conditions to promote the development of special education, in particular:
1) To provide the sponsoring bodies of special education with financial support;
2) To provide trainings for teachers and other related personnel;
3) To provide assistance for the students’ families;
4) To provide support for the entities promoting the related service of special education.

6. The special education system is governed by specific statutes.

Sub-section 2　Continuing education
Article 13　Types and objectives

1. Continuing education is the various educational activities other than formal education, including family education, recurrent education, community education, vocational trainings and other educational activities.

2. Continuing education embodies the notion of life-long learning; it is the complement and development of formal education.

3. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, the objectives of continuing education are in particular:
1) To provide opportunities of life-long learning, to enhance the overall quality of the students;
2) To alleviate illiteracy and functional illiteracy;
3) To provide education opportunities for those who have not attended or completed and passed the various education levels of formal education;
4) To provide individuals with the opportunities of constant development, so as to enhance the overall productivity and competitiveness of Macao Special Administrative Region;
5) To bring the education function of families and communities into full play, to promote the communication and cooperation with schools and the related education institutions;
6) To foster civic education and cultural activities.

4. The Government has the responsibility to develop continuing education and to provide necessary supports to private entities that promote continuing education.

Article 14　Family education

1. Family education is the mutual education among the family members, especially the parental education for minors. It aims to enable family to be the first and life-long learning entity, to promote the integral development of individuals and the well-beings of the society.

2. Through cooperation among the government departments and with private entities, the Government promotes the development of family education.

Article 15　Recurrent education

1. Recurrent education is the corresponding levels of education provided for those who have not attended or completed and passed the various education levels of formal education at the appropriate age.

2. Aside from not providing infant education, the education levels of recurrent education are the same as formal education, but the learning plans and curriculums are designed to be more flexible to match with students’ characteristics.

3. The government should provide conditions and resources for the development of recurrent education.

4. To acquire the academic qualification of recurrent education, the standard assessment composed of several core subjects and organised by the education authority ought to be passed.

5. The academic qualification of recurrent education is of the same efficacy as that of formal education.

6. The assessment referred in Clause No. 4 is governed by specific statutes.

Article 16　Community education

1. Community education embodies the notion of learning for all, to make full use of the various existing recourses inside and outside the community, and to enhance the residents’ quality by using flexible and diverse forms.

2. The government promotes community education and encourages the residents, private organisations and institutions to participate extensively.

3. School and community should coordinate mutually, jointly build a good environment to enable students to grow and learn healthily.

Article 17　Vocational training

1. In the prerequisite of not impeding Article 4, vocational training aims to enable individuals to acquire the knowledge and skills for engaging in a certain profession.

2. Only those who have completed and passed junior secondary education and are 15 full years old can enrol for the courses of vocational training.

3. The organisation and operation of vocational training are governed by specific statute.

Section 2　Conditions of admission and attendance to school
Article 18　Age

1. Only children who are 3 full years old by 31^st December of the enrolment year can enrol for the first year of infant education.

2. Only children who are 6 full years old by 31^st December of the enrolment year can enrol for the first year of primary education.

3. The maximum ages for studying in primary education, junior secondary education and senior secondary education are 15 years, 18 years and 21 years respectively.

4. Students studying in a certain class of primary, junior secondary and senior secondary education and are 15 years, 18 years or 21 years old in that academic year respectively, can continue to study till the end of that academic year.

5. Only children who are 3 full years old by 31^st December of the enrolment year can enrol for special education; the maximum age for special education is 21.

6. Only people who are 15 full years old or 16 full yeas old by 31^st December of the enrolment year can enrol for recurrent primary education and recurrent secondary education respectively.

7. The minimum age referred in Clause No. 2 and the maximum ages referred in Clause No. 3 and No. 5 can be gone beyond in special case, after the verification and approval of the education authority.

Article 19　Academic qualifications

Only primary graduates can enrol for junior secondary education; only junior secondary graduates can enrol for senior secondary education.