UEC task force final report ready, but no minister to submit to

The Unified Examination Certificate Task Force is in a predicament because there is no education minister for them to submit their final report to.  

Unified Examination Certificate task force chief Eddin Khoo (photo) said the task force will submit the final report in person after the new minister was announced.

"After the new minister is announced, we will have to make arrangements to see him or her and deliver the report," he said. 

"The last minister (Maszlee Malik) was supportive and open-minded."

Asked about the possibility of submitting the report to Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching, Khoo said the task force will only report to the minister of education.

"This is nothing to do with any political party. This is a national issue and it needs to be addressed nationally," he said. 

"Our appointment is with the education minister so we will report to that minister. All political parties and political interest groups should respect the process.

"Some political groups have become arrogant, they don't care about due process and doing things properly. They just want a result that is beneficial to them," he added.

The task force, headed by Khoo, was set up by Maszlee in October 2018.

Chinese educationist group Dong Zhong deputy president Tan Yew Sing and Muslim Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia president Mohamad Raimi Abdul Rahim are also on the task force. 

The report was scheduled to be submitted in July 2017 but was changed to September last year. However, Maszlee was on sick leave on Sep 20 when the summary findings were supposed to be submitted to the government.

Last Thursday, Maszlee announced his resignation during a special press conference after his meeting with the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

However, Maszlee stated that he merely "returned" his post after the prime minister dropped the education portfolio to honour the Pakatan Harapan election manifesto.

"After meeting with Mahathir and on his advice, who to me is a statesman, a father figure, with a willing and heavy heart, I Maszlee Malik return my position as education minister to the prime minister effective Jan 3," he said. - Mkini