KUALA LUMPUR: A government backbencher has called on Putrajaya to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and allow its graduates to apply for public universities through their direct intake systems.
Chow Yu Hui (PH-Raub) said UEC graduates were a “talent pool” often ignored in the national discourse on the brain drain.
He said 4,000 UEC graduates moved abroad every year to pursue their higher education.
He also asked why the UEC was not recognised when public universities accepted foreign-based certifications such as the Australian Matriculation (Ausmat), International Baccalaureate (IB), China’s High School Examination certificate and A-Levels.
“Why do Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia recognise Ausmat, IB, A-Levels and China’s High School Examination certificate, but reject Malaysian students who took the UEC?
“In the end, our children are absorbed by other countries that recognise UEC, such as Singapore, China, Australia, the US and the UK,” said the MP while debating the 2024 supply bill in the Dewan Rakyat.
Chow said the UEC was recognised by top universities around the world, such as Peking University, the National University of Singapore, New York University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
He praised the Sarawak government for recognising the UEC since 2014 and allowing its graduates to work in the state’s civil service, apply for Yayasan Sarawak scholarships and enrol in Universiti Teknologi Sarawak.
Chow also refuted arguments by several quarters that UEC neglected Bahasa Malaysia and that its history syllabus was heavily based on other countries.
Responding to the claims, he said independent Chinese secondary schools often collaborated with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and have organised Malay language forums, poetry competitions and other academic activities.
Chow also said Malaysian history comprised 60% of the UEC syllabus while the remainder involved the history of Southeast Asia, East Asia and the rest of the world.
He expressed hope that the matter can be discussed from an academic perspective and not treated as a racial issue.
‘Explain your hesitancy in recognising UEC’
Meanwhile, Tan Hong Ping (PH-Bakri) lamented that the UEC issue had become political rather than academic.
He called on the government to explain its hesitancy in recognising it for enrolment in public universities, considering that it could do so for the foreign-based certifications mentioned by Chow.
“I hope the education ministry can provide explanations from the academic and expertise-based aspects,” said Tan, interrupting Chow.
In March, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said the ministry had no plans to recognise the UEC.
In a brief and written parliamentary reply today, Fadhlina said this stance was based on the National Education Policy and the Education Act 1996. - FMT
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