KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Batu Kitang Protem branch chairman Abdul Aziz Isa believed that it is time for Pakatan Harapan (PH) to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
Aziz said by recognising UEC, it will place all Malaysian students on equal terms.
“Regardless of their educational denomination, all Malaysian students should be eligible to receive tertiary education in public universities on equal footing and treatment.
“Every Malaysian student should have fair chances to be employed as public servants.
“The Malaysian federal government has everything to gain and nothing to lose if it recognises the credential held by students of Chinese independent high schools,” he said.
UEC, he stated, has a higher standard than SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) as many renowned universities around the world recognise UEC but not necessarily SPM.
It is a well-known fact that UEC has long been recognised as equivalent to A-level standard by more than 400 most renowned universities at the international level and also recognised by the Sarawak government for recruitment into the state civil service.
There are 60 Chinese independent high schools throughout the country. In Malaysia, students must obtain credit in the SPM Bahasa Malaysia (BM) subject to meet entry requirements into public universities.
At present, UEC holders who want to enter public universities have to sit for six major papers in the SPM examination. The six subjects are Bahasa Malaysia, English, History, Mathematics, Moral Education and Islamic Studies.
Aziz suggested that the federal government allows UEC holders to sit for only the Bahasa Malaysia paper instead of all the six papers to qualify them to enter public universities.
Many discussions have been held between the United Chinese School Committee’s Association (Dong Zong) and the Ministry of Education. Dong Zong has already expressed its willingness to accept the condition stated by the ministry, which is that UEC holders must sit for SPM Malay Language with credit.
The Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik will have to table the recognition proposal to the Cabinet after a final confirmation with Dong Zong. Then, the Education Ministry has to instruct the public universities to acknowledge UEC application for tertiary education.
Since the PH government upholds the value of diversity and inclusiveness, it is time that the new government recognises UEC to build a more diverse and inclusive society.
“However, I echo the suggestions made by the Education Minister to have more integration activities or programmes to foster a strong bond between schools and students.
“Recognising the UEC will allow Malaysian Independent Chinese Secondary School graduates to be admitted into our public tertiary institutions as well as the civil and armed services, which are the stated intention of the government recently,” Aziz said.
