Of the 287 children at the Costa Nunes Kindergarten in Macao, where Portuguese is the language of instruction, two-thirds are Chinese, Lusa says, citing Bárbara Maria Carmo, the kindergarten coordinator.

Ms Carmo said in an interview that most parents of her pupils believe knowing Portuguese will turn out to be valuable to their children, the Portuguese news agency reported on Monday.

The report says another educational institution in Macao, the Escola Primária Luso-Chinesa da Flora, has 80 Portuguese students, among whom one-tenth are in the bilingual and Chinese-language sections of the school.

The public primary school offers a wide range of activities to help those pupils whose mother tongue is a language other than Chinese to understand Chinese culture, to interest them in learning Chinese and to teach them the language, Lusa says.