晚清至民初澳門的女性教育

Based on firsthand references, this article examines the state of women’s education in Macao from the late Qing period to the early Republican period. In 1914, the Portuguese Macao government imposed age restrictions on admission to co-educational schools. However, it is worth noting that Mr. Chen Zibao, an educational reformist, had already implemented co-education for both boys and girls as early as 1904. Mr. Chen’s objective was to promote female education while simultaneously fostering the development of female teachers. He had successfully trained at least three school headmistresses. Historical research indicates that prior to the 20th century, the literacy rate among Chinese women in Macao was exceedingly low. In contrast, non-Chinese women had a significantly higher literacy rate, largely attributable to the efforts of Catholic schools established in the latter part of the 19th century. During the early 20th century, female students within the Macao public education system were scarce. In the early 1920s, approximately 18% of Chinese girls attended public schools, while schools established by the Chinese and Portuguese communities accounted for roughly 30% and 34% of the overall student population, respectively. By the late 1920s, with the growing Chinese population in Macao, Chinese female students constituted approximately 30% of the total Chinese student population, a proportion that remained relatively stable until around 1938 when a significant number of Chinese schools were relocated to Macao. Subsequently, in the 1930s, the number of female schools in Macao increased, and the establishment of secondary schools facilitated a rise in the number of female students receiving junior high school education.