Marco Carvalho
The University of Saint Joseph will be welcoming students from Portugal’s largest educational institution for socially disadvantaged children and youth as soon as next year. The program was confirmed to “O Clarim” by Álvaro Barbosa, Vice-rector for Internationalization and Academic Affairs of USJ. Macau’s Catholic university signed a collaborative agreement with Casa Pia de Lisboa just before Christmas.
The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) and Portugal’s “Casa Pia de Lisboa” sealed, in mid-December, a protocol that stipulates the development of joint academic, research, technical and cultural cooperation projects. The agreement, which was signed in Lisbon by Álvaro Barbosa, Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Academic Affairs of USJ and by the president of Casa Pia, Fátima Matos, also specifies that both entities will promote solutions “for Casa Pia students to pursue their academic studies at the University of Saint Joseph, in Macau”, the higher education institution writes in a press release.
The university could welcome the first students from Casa Pia de Lisboa (the ´Pious House of Lisbon’, in a free translation) as early as next academic year, Álvaro Barbosa told “O Clarim”: “In theory, we expect the first students to travel to Macau next year. We should welcome them before the upcoming academic year. The admissions will follow the normal procedures at the University of Saint Joseph in terms of academic requirements. The difference is that the students that will come to Macau are recommended by Casa Pia and, as such, if they are admitted, they will be offered scholarships that are associated with their application”, the University’s Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Academic Affairs explains.
The prospects for developing cooperation ties between the two entities was first suggested in May 2023, during a visit to Lisbon by Stephen Morgan, the rector of the University of Saint Joseph. Back then, the institution led by Fátima Matos and Macau’s Catholic university announced the negotiation of an agreement aimed at “creating synergies that could promote the technical, human and academic development of students and professionals from both institutions”.
A public entity under the supervision of the Portuguese Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Casa Pia de Lisboa is Portugal’s largest educational institution dedicated to helping youngsters in risk of social exclusion or without parental support. Founded by Queen Maria I in 1780, the organization comprises ten schools and colleges and currently offers education, training and care to around three thousand students, as well as boarding for two hundred underprivileged children.
Ever since it was created in the late 18th century, somewhat as response to the social disarray following the devastating earthquake of 1755, the institution’s mission has been to enable disadvantaged young people to become healthy and successful members of society, by helping to develop their intellectual, manual and physical skills in an environment that promotes spiritual, moral and religious values.
Casa Pia de Lisboa prides itself to have had among its ranks many renowned figures from Portugal. The list includes politicians, journalists, businesspeople and artists. Among them is Pedro Fonseca Guedes, a Macau-born painter who, in 1901, was one of the founders of the Portuguese National Society of Fine Arts.