The University of Macau (UM) today (27 May) presented 15 academic prizes to 61 outstanding fresh graduates at the Academic Prize Presentation Ceremony 2022.
In his speech, UM Rector Yonghua Song congratulated the students and thanked the donors of the academic prizes. According to him, with the tremendous support of the central government and the SAR government, UM has been actively seeking breakthroughs in teaching and research in recent years and has developed into an international comprehensive public university with unique characteristics, strong capabilities, and a rising reputation in the international community. To take its development to the next level, UM announced its new five-year development plan at the end of 2021. Having positioned itself as a university of and for Macao, the university will co-develop the Greater Bay Area, integrate into the national development strategy, and increase its degree of internationalisation. In the next five years, UM aims to become an internationally recognised university of excellence through quality student-centred education, internationally impactful research, and high-quality community service.
Iao Ka Lei, a fresh graduate of the Faculty of Education and the Honours College, who is also a recipient of the Choi Kai Yau Academic Prize, says that her dream is to become a kindergarten teacher. In addition to learning a lot about early childhood education, in her courses at UM, she received the opportunity to conduct mock lessons in front of her classmates, where she learned how to carry out classroom activities smoothly as well as design better activities. She adds that professors at UM always encourage her and her classmates to think deeper and have given them lots of useful advice, so that they can learn from their mistakes and put their knowledge into practice. She feels that this experience is invaluable in helping her and her classmates feel more comfortable when they teach children in a real-world setting.
In the past academic year, the university gave out over MOP 4 million in more than 60 kinds of academic prizes and scholarships to over 400 students. At the ceremony, 15 kinds of academic prizes were presented, namely Macau Foundation Academic Prize, Henry Fok Foundation Academic Prize, Bank of China Academic Prize, Luso International Bank Academic Prize, ICBC Macau Academic Prize, MECOM Power - Hung Yip Group Academic Prize, BNU Academic Prize, Akrostar Academic Prize, Choi Kai Yau Academic Prize, Lou Tou Vo Mathematics Academic Prize, Jorge Alvares Foundation Academic Prize, X Fintech Asia Academic Prize, LECM Academic Prize, ERS Academic Prize, and MIL Law Office Academic Prize.
