Professor Jun Liu, Rector of City University of Macau (CityU), recently led a delegation to visit the Ministry of Education of São Tomé and Príncipe upon invitation. The group was warmly welcomed by Ms. Isabel Maria Correia Viegas de Abreu, the Minister of Education, Culture, and Science. During their visit, both parties discussed a range of topics related to enhancing the quality of English education and fostering international talents in São Tomé and Príncipe. The Ministry of Education of São Tomé and Príncipe expressed interest in collaborating with City University of Macau to develop teacher training programs, aiming to further improve local English education. The delegation also included José Alves, Dean of the Faculty of Business at City University of Macau.

During the discussion, Rector Jun Liu introduced CityU’s achievements and future plans, including its history, curriculum characteristics, and cooperation with Portuguese-speaking universities. Minister Isabel Maria Correia Viegas de Abreu provided an overview of the development of higher and elementary education in São Tomé and Príncipe. Both sides aimed to leverage CityU's disciplinary advantages and characteristics in Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication for teacher training and visits, with the hope of improving language proficiency and teaching methods and cultivating more international talent in the field of higher education.

At the invitation of Minister Abreu, Rector Jun Liu visited a high school in São Tomé and Príncipe and held a sharing session with over 40 English teachers from local secondary schools, and had gained a comprehensive understanding of the country’s English education policies, curriculum design, teaching resources, teaching methods, assessment tests, student learning styles, and learning outcomes, and learned about the urgent need to improve the development of English teachers and teaching quality in the country.

As the first non-native English speaker to serve as President of the TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) International Association and President of the International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF), Rector Jun Liu engaged in in-depth discussions with local teacher representatives, shared his experience and analysis of the local situation, and gathered their opinions on improving English education in the country.

Minister Abreu participated in the sharing session and encouraged local teachers to enhance their teaching techniques to cultivate talents with international perspectives. She expressed her interest in collaborating with CityU to launch teacher training programs to improve English education quality in the country. Rector Jun Liu proposed the establishment of an English educational resource center to optimize the curriculum, improve English teaching skills of local teachers, and enhance the quality of English education nationwide. He also suggested a joint collaboration with Portuguese-speaking universities, such as the University of Évora (Portugal) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), to carry out teacher training courses for the development and improvement of English teaching in the country.

Foward from "University News"