Enhance the appointment requirements of teaching staff Optimise the overall teaching effectiveness
A professional teaching team is extremely important for the enhancement of education quality. In other words, “There are good teachers, and then will there be quality education”. Therefore, the law of “System Framework” appropriately enhances the appointment requirements of teaching staff, such as education qualification, pedagogical training in order to enhance the professional standard of teaching staff before they are appointed; so as to enable the whole teaching staff team to be more professional and consequently provide more appropriate education to the students.
Establish the career regime for teaching staff Strengthen the building of teaching team
The establishment of the career regime for teaching staff in the “System Framework” will provide protection for teaching staff and it is helpful for teaching staff to have early planning for their career development. In terms of the setting of the levels of rank, it is stipulated that teaching staff is divided into six levels; the lowest rank is Level 6. For rank promotion, the main promotion requirements of teaching staff are service time, work performance evaluation and professional development, which will be examined and appraised.
Set up a teaching staff evaluation system Ensure the professional standard of teacher qualification
Work performance assessment is an important part in the “System Framework”. The purpose is to ensure the improvement of professional performance of teaching staff, to promote their professional development, to optimise the human resources management of schools and improve the quality of education. In addition, the honor of “Distinguished teacher” is also set up to stimulate the morale of teachers.
Promote the professional development of teaching staff Improve the quality of school education
The “System Framework” sets the teaching staff’s professional development as one of the three main requirements for rank promotion. At the same time, it clearly defines the requirement of achieving a certain number of professional development hours (an average of not less than 30 hours per year) for each rank promotion. Besides, it also provides that the current “direct subsidy” of teaching staff will be changed to “subsidy for professional development” after the entry into force of the Law. There will be difference in the amounts of subsidy for teaching staff in accordance with various levels of rank, education qualification and pedagogical training, so as to reflect the value of work experience and seniority of teaching staff.
Build a professional management team in schools Promote the overall development of schools
The “System Framework” stipulates that the academic qualification of the principal should not be lower than that required for teachers teaching in the highest education level of the school, the academic qualification of other middle and senior management staff in the school should not be lower than that required for teachers teaching in the educational level that he/she manages, and they must complete the specific professional development courses prior to the appointment, so as to enhance the professional quality of principals of private schools and the whole management team, thereby leading schools to the goal of quality education.
Adequately reduce the weekly teaching hours Concern with students’ comprehensive development
The Macao SAR Government has been striving to create better teaching conditions for teaching staff, adequately to reduce the teaching hours, allowing teachers to spare more time to pay close attention to the physical and mental development of students, to take care of individual differences of students and to enhance students’ learning effectiveness. The “System Framework” states the difference in the number of weekly teaching hours for the teachers of various education levels, the number of weekly teaching periods for Infant education teachers is 21-23 periods, and that of primary and secondary school teachers are 18-20 periods and 16-18 periods respectively.
Ensure the remuneration of teaching staff Stabilise the excellent teaching team
In order to ensure the teaching staff to obtain the due salaries and benefits, and to effectively guide schools to use the public fund reasonably, the “System Framework” clearly stipulates that schools should guarantee that the remuneration and contributions of the provident fund of teaching staff should occupy 70% or above of the school’s fixed and long-term revenues. Besides, the “System Framework” also provides that teaching staff should obtain the basic salaries that are consistent with their ranks in order to reflect the value of the teaching staff’s educational experience.
Perfect the welfare system for teaching staff Strengthen the retirement security
The “System Framework” provides that teaching staff can enjoy free health care offered by the public health institutions. For teachers having taught in Macao for 25 years, they can continue to enjoy free health care after the termination of service until they are 65 years old. In addition, the “System Framework” clearly stipulates that schools need to set up provident fund for teaching staff, the contribution of provident fund is responsible by both the school and teaching staff. In other words, teaching staff can enjoy free health care and mandatory provident fund system, thus teaching staff is protected by the law.
