Macau takes a student gamble

MACAU, INFAMOUS as a mecca for gamblers and traders, has never stood out as a centre for higher education. That is unsurprising, given that before 1981 it had no institution for higher learning. The few students who studied at this level did so elsewhere.

But post-colonial Macau is anxious not to become a backwater, unable to compete on price and talent with the burgeoning, increasingly educated population across the mainland border. As such, education has come into focus.

Like Hong Kong, Macau is pinning much of its future on reforming its education in order to remain competitive as a special administrative region in the post-reunification era.

It has started with higher education. Shortly after the handover, its Government turned to the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to act as consultants in reviewing the sector and making recommendations. Its report, Higher Education In Macau: Strategic Development for the New Era, was published last month and raises interesting questions about the future of higher education in Macau.

The former Portuguese colony has a student population of about 5,000 in the 19 to 22 age group, learning at 11 institutions. At least as many are estimated to be studying outside the territory. Of the known destinations, more than two-thirds opt to study in China - in 2000, some 401 Macau students enrolled in mainland institutions, compared with 139 in Taiwan, 30 in the US and just 13 in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the adjacent special economic zone of Zhuhai is forging ahead with its own plans, building a university city spread over 15.4 square kilometres. The whole of Macau measures just 24 square kilometres.