A total of 115 high school graduates in Macao will be recruited free of entrance examinations by prestigious universities and colleges based in China's inland cities this year, according to sources from the Macao Educational Association.
Nineteen institutions of higher learning, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Fudan University, have decided to enroll excellent Macao students in the Autumn-Winter semester, and the Macao Educational Association is entrusted by China's Ministry of Education for application and interview procedures.
Inland colleges started immediate admission of Macao students as early as 1995.
In the past few years, more than half of the lucky Macao students choose Guangdong-based universities, due to similar dialect and cuisine among other living habits as well as short journeys between the two places.
Inland universities charge lower fees but boast more diversified disciplines and stronger competitive edge globally compared to a dozen local institutions of higher learning.
Macao students usually prefer majors that cater to both demand of the current era and fast-growing sectors in Macao, such as education, medical science, foreign language, information technology, electronics and business management.
On the other hand, Macao-based institutions including the University of Macao, Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao Institute for Tourism Studies and Macao University of Science and Technology, recruited as many as 2,400 students from China's interior areas last year.
(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2003)
