Colégio Diocesano de São José 5, Catholic school in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Macau, China.
Colégio Diocesano de São José 5 occupies a multi-storey building in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Macau, with a pale green-grey facade whose upper floors form a grid of deep rectangular windows between concrete ribs. A taller rounded tower at the right edge carries a band of horizontal windows, and below the grid a stone-faced lower level has an arched entrance recess flanked by narrow windows and a red box on the left.
The school traces its origin to 1931, when Father Monteiro founded the primary school that became known as Zhenyuan Primary School. In 1979 Bishop Arquimínio Rodrigues da Costa ordered its merger with two other Catholic schools under a supervisory committee, with Father Luís Ruiz as head. In 1986 the bishop decreed the fifth school administratively independent, led by Father Ho Fat-chun; secondary classes began in 1989 and English-language teaching was authorised in 1991.
Since primary one the school has run separate Chinese and English sections: the Chinese section teaches mainly in Cantonese, while the English section uses English for all subjects except Chinese and related ones. The English section was taken over from the former sixth school in September 1991. The school also hosts international examination centres and is a Chinese history and culture promotion base of the University of Macau.
The campus covers close to 6,000 square metres in Nossa Senhora de Fátima, with the stone-faced lower level and arched entrance recess at street level and the classroom grid above. The school runs from preschool through secondary in one continuous track, and secondary graduates go on to university at a rate of about 97 percent. Families should confirm admission terms directly, since the school's fee status has been contested in its own history.
The school's English section was not created in 2016: it was authorised in September 1991, when the school took over the English section previously run by the sixth school. The 2016 episode was a tuition dispute, with parents writing to Bishop Stephen Lee.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,087 contributors worldwide.