Colégio Dom Bosco (Yuet Wah) was originally an orphanage (Asilo dos Orfaos) which was run by the Salesians, specifically accommodating Portuguese orphans.
In 1941, since the Portuguese Salesians did not have their own premises, the orphans had to stay in the Immaculate Conception Orphanage (now Instituto Salesiano) with the Chinese orphans.
Because of a number of problems, the foundation stone laying ceremony was delayed until 1949, and the school was named Colégio Dom Bosco de Artes Oficios, and later referred to as Colégio Dom Bosco. The Salesians started to use part of the new building in 1951 providing technical and vocational education.
The construction of the school was completed in 1963. At that time, it was a boarding school which provided vocational and preparatory courses. The curriculum was the same as that used in Government schools. In addition, the school provided mechanics, typing, computer and other programs for many years. This led to the development of technical education in Macau.
The Choir, “Little Singers of the Wooden Cross” was founded by Fr. Cesare Brianza and proved to be not just an extra-curricular activity. He drew the greatest satisfaction from the many concerts and church performances given by this Choir over a period of almost thirty years in Macau and other countries. He founded this well-known Choir in 1959 and brought it to a remarkable standard of artistic excellence.
In 1976, the school closed the industrial course and set up junior high programs. The Portuguese kindergarten was opened in 1982.
As the handover of Macau approached, the number of Portuguese students and Salesians in the school began to fall. At the same time there was a demand for more Chinese schools in the community. Therefore, after consultations between the Portugal Province and the China Province, the Chinese Section was founded in 1991. At the beginning, the Chinese Section used only a small building beside the playground: 4 kindergarten classes with 170 students were set up, and it was managed by Fr. Luigi Rubini SDB. In June 1999, there were totally about 1240 students, including the two classes of the 65 first graduates. Meanwhile, Fr. Francis Hung, SDB took over the post of principal from Fr. Luigi Rubini SDB.
In August 1999, all the students in the Portuguese Section moved to Escola Portuguesa de Macau, and the Portuguese Section of Colégio Dom Bosco was closed. On 20th December in the same year, Macau was handed over to China. The Salesians of Dom Bosco (Portugal Province) then signed an agreement handing over Colégio Dom Bosco to the Salesians of the China Province. And for the better development of the Salesian schools in Macau, it was decided to merge Colégio Dom Bosco with Yuet Wah College, and our school was finally named COLÉGIO DOM BOSCO (YUET WAH). After the merger, Yuet Wah College moved all the primary students of the English and the Chinese Sections to our school. And in 2001, our school exchanged all 10 kindergarten classes with the 10 primary classes from Colégio Perpétuo Socorro Chan Sui Ki (Sucursal). Since then, Yuet Wah College has become a secondary school and Colégio Dom Bosco (Yuet Wah) a primary school under the governance of the Salesians of Dom Bosco (China Province).
Our school covers an area of 16,514 m², with a 3-storey school building covering an area of 10,312 m². There are totally 48 classes in our Chinese and English Sections from Primary One to Primary Six. There are 8 classes in each grade and the total number of students in our school is about 1500.