1196 Macau Catholic Schools Council to review common mission of Catholic education
austraLasia 1196
Macau Catholic Schools Council to review common
mission of Catholic education
MACAU: 12 July 2005 -- With nearly 40,000 students in
Catholic schools in Macau, the largest school-sponsoring body in the
Special Administrative Region (SAR), is reviewing the mission of
Catholic education in changing times.
Fr Pong Ping-fai is the principal of the St Louis Versiglia College in
the city, but is also chairperson of the Macau Catholic Schools
Council. The Council meets shortlly to address the serious
challenges facing education but especially Catholic education, in the
light of changing social strucutres.
The granting of new casino concessions in Macau in
2002 has meant a rapid growth in the gambling industry with immediate
impact on local social structures. Young men and women past the
age of compulsory education are attracted to employment opportunities
in the industry instead of pursuing further studies. Many
families, too, have both parents working with consequent less attention
given to the home.
The July Catholic Schools Council meeting aims to
re-think the mission of catholic schools in the region in the light of
these changes. The diocese has been collecting opinions from
relevant sectors in an effort to draft a document on a common mission
for Catholic schools, following a meeting of the Council in April of
this year.
The Salesian Sisters conduct Auxilium College in
Macau. The principal, Sr Maria Sheung, faces the problem that
confronts most of the Catholic Schools there - just a handful of
Catholic students and teachers amongst a school community of nearly 900
individuals. She believes that religious education and ethics
have a particularly important role to play in the circumstances of
Macau today. There is a great need to prepare citizens whose
values are inspired by principles other than materialism.
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