Nearly 1 in 5 Chinese secondary students enrolled in UEC system, Dewan told

 Education minister says nearly 70% of Chinese students are enrolled in schools under the education ministry.

Last month, Dong Zong said the total number of students at Chinese independent schools nationwide had fallen below 80,000, after reaching a peak of about 81,000.

PETALING JAYA:

A total of 75,144 Chinese students were enrolled in Chinese independent high schools as of this year, accounting for 19.4% of the 387,406 Chinese secondary school students nationwide.

In a written parliamentary reply, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said the remaining students were enrolled in schools under the education ministry (260,699 or 67.3%) and private education institutions (51,563 or 13.3%).

She was asked by Ahmad Yahaya (PN-Pokok Sena) about the percentage of Chinese students enrolled in the UEC education system compared with those attending national-type schools.

Last month, the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) said the total number of students at Chinese independent schools nationwide had fallen below 80,000, after reaching a peak of about 81,000.

In a Sin Chew Daily report, Dong Zong chairman Tan Yew Sing warned that some schools could face serious recruitment challenges and even closure if the issue was not addressed early.

Tan urged Chinese independent schools to admit more non-Chinese students, recruit international students, and improve education quality to address the declining enrolment caused by falling birth rates among Malaysian Chinese.

Dong Zong developed and created the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) in 1975 as an examination system to serve Chinese independent high schools in Malaysia after they opted out of the national curriculum in 1961 to maintain Chinese-medium instruction.

The UEC is academically equivalent to the national Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia or international A-levels. - FMT