After passing a new Tertiary Education bill, which is currently being reviewed, the Macau government will draft a 10-year development plan for the higher education sector. Macau faces similar challenges to neighbouring countries and territories such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, in that it has a rapidly shrinking student population.

The Tertiary Education Bill aims to introduce a new assessment system for higher education institutions, however has faced debate over financing schemes.

In terms of student population, comments by the Director of the Tertiary Education Services Office indicate that the number of high-school graduates will decrease over the next five years and then level out at about 3,500 per year, compared to around 5,000 this year.

Currently around half of Macau’s school leavers pursue study abroad overseas. Macau higher education institutions offer a limited range of subjects, and need to diversify programme offerings despite the shrinking pool of potential students.

Sources:

http://macaunews.com.mo/government-mulls-10-year-plan-higher-education/

http://macaudailytimes.com.mo/al-plenary-higher-education-bill-approved-amid-doubts-financing-scheme.html

Commentary by Steve Corry, Head of Education Marketing Services, Hong Kong (steven.corry@britishcouncil.org.hk):

The Macau economy is characterised by a narrow base in terms of economic sectors, lack of professional qualifications in many fields, and challenges for companies to recruit talent outside the predominant gaming industry. For this reason the Macau government encourages overseas study, and also wishes to broaden higher education provision locally.

While a small market, in recent times Macau has demonstrated strong growth in terms of student mobility to the UK. In 2015 269 tier 4 student visas were issued, compared with 225 in 2014 (representing growth of 19.6 per cent). It is estimated however that up to half of students going to the UK from Macau possess Portuguese passports, therefore visa figures under-state market size.