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2008-04-07 |
Speech of Dr. K.K. Wong
Good afternoon honourable guests, ladies and gentlemen,
We are grateful to have your attendance in this ceremony. Today we are
going to award two distinguished honour to two professors who
contributed so much to this University. They are Prof. Zhuang Shanyu who
will become Rector Emeritus of AIOU and Prof. Armando Rocha Trindade who
will become Academic Council Chainman Emeritus of AIOU. On behalf of the
University, I send the warmest congratulations and the utmost respect to
both of them. Later on, I will read out the contributions and
achievements of Prof. Armando Rocha Trindade and Rector of Open
University of Portugal, also Chairman of AIOU Academic Council
Chairman-Rector Carlos Reis will read out the contributions and
achievements of Prof. Zhuang Zhanyu. Now let me give you a brief
introduction of AIOU and Open University of Portugal.
Asia International Open University (Macau) and Open University of
Portugual are partners, they have been in partnership for a long time.
In 1978, Dr. K. K. Wong, Dr. Peter Eng and Dr. Edward P. H. Woo, with
the support from friends from local and overseas, founded the first
university in Macau called the University of East Asia (UEA).
The?establishment䰄f UEA was蟵 milestone for the development of tertiary
education in Macau. In February 1988, the University of East Asia was
restructured and became three independent institutions, namely
University of Macau, Macau Polytechnic Institute and East Asia Open
Institute. In September 1992, with the approval of the Macau Government,
East Asia Open Institute entered into a joint venture with Universidade
Aberta (Open University) of Portugal to form a new university - the Asia
International Open University (Macau).
Macau has been a unique meeting place between the Eastern and Western
cultures from its earliest history and has been a gateway of the trade
between China and Europe. It can be seen that the hand-over of Macau to
China and the implementation of 幈ne country, two systems?policy has
brought significant impact to Macau and China, especially the ties
between China and European Community. The University will endeavour to
establish closer ties in the resources and cultural exchange amongst
Macau, China and Europe.
Now let me give you a brief introduction of Open University of Portugal
(UA). It is a public university from the Ministry of Science, Technology
and Higher Education of Portugal, created by Decree-Law 444/88,
therefore celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year. It is the outcome
of the merging of the Portuguese Institute of Distance learning (1976)
and the Institute of Educational Technology of Portugal (1972). Both
institutes were committed to distance learning and educational
technologies and both were presided by Prof. Armando Rocha Trindade, who
became the first Rector of UA.
This University is intended for the adult population and it teaches on
non-face-to-face mode, providing learning materials and guidance to
adult students, via tutorial support in Portugal, but with face-to-face
examinations and assessments in the places of students?residence.
UA operates centers in various countries in Africa, Brazil, East-Timor,
Goa, Hong Kong and Macau. In Europe, UA is a partner of the European
Distance Education Network and also of the EUROSTEP and EUROSPACE
consortiums, the Global Development Learning Network and others. In
Macau, it is a partner of Asia International Open University (Macau) and
therefore its Portuguese programs are automatically recognized in the
European Union.
So my introduction will stop here and thank you again for your coming
and support.
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