UEC recognition underscores robustness of national education system

It is also a guarantee of our shared future as it complements the national education system rather than competing with it.

From Tan Yew Sing

The United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) welcomes the statement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who affirmed that all parties must “uphold the principles within the Federal Constitution regarding the status of Bahasa Melayu”, which must be manifested by giving “priority (to) the mastery of Bahasa Melayu”.

Upholding the supremacy of the Federal Constitution

Dong Zong, as an organisation led by Malaysian citizens for the common benefit of education, naturally upholds the Federal Constitution and the constitution of every state with the highest esteem, including Article 152 which enshrines the position of Bahasa Melayu (BM) as the national language.

It would therefore be the civic duty of every citizen to have a good command of the language. Being at the very core of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) syllabus, BM is naturally a compulsory subject for all students of the Chinese Independent High Schools (SMPC).

Given this strong emphasis, the pass rate for the BM subject at the SPM level among SMPC students has consistently exceeded 96% in recent years – specifically, 97.38% in 2022, 97.11% in 2023, and 96.65% in 2024.

Elevating Bahasa Melayu in the classroom and beyond

Recognising the mastery of our national language as a social imperative for fostering societal harmony and nation-building, Dong Zong fully supports the continuous strengthening of the teaching and learning of BM across all education systems in Malaysia, in line with the spirit of our National Language Act 1963/67.

In this regard, Dong Zong has long been organising various programmes with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to further enhance the quality and effectiveness of BM teaching and learning in SMPCs, thus improving proficiency in the language.

Dong Zong has also established a joint working group with Ikram Malaysia, an Islamic NGO, to promote social competitiveness via improved proficiency in BM so that SMPC students and graduates can contribute positively, not only as a member of the general public, but also as a part of the national and regional workforce.

Claims that BM is being marginalised or not prioritised at SMPCs are nothing but impetuous and baseless allegations by certain quarters.

Multilingual skills in an increasingly globalised job market

Malaysia is an active trading nation, and as an involved citizen of the international community, our various national entities – including government machinery, investor community, employers and human capital – will certainly benefit from wider multilingualism.

On top of having a solid foundation in BM, our talents must also look at English, Mandarin, Arabic, Tamil and various other languages to be truly multilingual, in line with demands on the international scene.

Dong Zong’s consistently congruous support of the government’s policy of strengthening multilingual competence is evidenced by our proactive role in delivering results, particularly by promoting a masterly level of Chinese language at schools under our purview, including SMPCs that offer the UEC.

SPM’s importance and UEC’s advantage

It must be emphasised that while the UEC is often portrayed as a “competitor” to the SPM examination, this is profoundly inaccurate.

In reality, since 1975 UEC has been engineered as a school-leaving qualification at the pre-university level equivalent to the STPM, which can be used for admission into undergraduate studies. Moreover, SMPC students also sit for the SPM.

Due to the high standards in several aspects, the UEC remains popular because it gives wider access to education, training and career opportunities that require Chinese language command at levels C1 to C2 under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Opting for UEC is rather analogous to UK university aspirants sitting for A-Levels, students heading to Australia undergoing the Australian Matriculation (Ausmat), students bound for the Middle East sitting for the Sijil Menengah Agama/Ugama (SMA/SMU), etc.

Some have alleged that the syllabus for History is biased towards China. This is categorically untrue as contents regarding China is only part of the introduction to East Asia’s wider civilisation and history. At the same time, content regarding Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, is in line with the national curriculum.

Existing recognition of the UEC by government agencies in Malaysia

Dong Zong very much welcomes the proposal that a credit in BM at the SPM level be the requisite for UEC recognition, especially since UEC students are very well-equipped to fulfil this condition.

In fact, the following are already in force:

(i) The Sarawak government has recognised the UEC since 2015-2016 for entry into state civil service positions, state-owned colleges and universities, as well as qualification for Yayasan Sarawak education loans, subject to the condition of a credit in the SPM-level BM subject;

(ii) The Penang government recognised UEC for recruitment at state government-linked companies (GLC) since 2014;

(iii) For the Selangor government, the state executive council had on Oct 21, 2015, recognised UEC for enrolment at state-owned higher education institutions (IPT). Further entry requirements, including for SPM BM, are subject to the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA);

(iv) Although the first move was made in 2019, the Sabah government had on Oct 3, 2025, recognised UEC as an official academic qualification for state scholarship applications, admission to state-owned educational institutions, and consideration for recruitment to state civil service and related state agencies, subject to the condition of an SPM credit in BM;

(v) The education ministry’s special intake for the Bachelor of Teaching Degree Programme (PISMP) with Honours for candidates via the UEC and SMA/SMU special pathway has existed since 2012 (based on public records), with a minimum requirement of a credit in BM, English and History.

UEC is 100% a Malaysian product

On Feb 20, 2025, the Federal Court ruled that Malaysian vernacular education institutions are not unconstitutional. Among arguments considered and emphasised was that Article 152 of the Federal Constitution guarantees the right of the people throughout the nation to learn, use, and teach languages other than the national language.

The assertion that the use of the Chinese language as the medium of instruction for a number of subjects at SMPC being unconstitutional is also highly inaccurate due to the relatively extensive use of BM at SMPCs.

This situation is not at all comparable to the use of English at international schools, which ironically has never been disputed.

Another allegation that the UEC is a qualification from China or Taiwan is entirely slanderous. In principle, SMPCs, as private institutions, have always reserved the option to follow the practice of various international schools that offer foreign courses such as A-Levels from the UK and Ausmat from Australia.

Even government schools like Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) offer the IGCSE, while the International Baccalaureate (IB) is offered at Mara College Banting and the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).

In contrast, the UEC was formulated based on the national curriculum and fully complies with international standards for secondary education. The curriculum development and editorial committees are all based in Malaysia.

As patriotic citizens of Malaysia, Dong Zong decidedly ensures that the UEC is always aligned with the national syllabus, yet with added value that complements the national education system rather than competing with it.

A common stand in the face of global economic development

As the global economic, technological, and innovation centre of gravity shifts from the West to Asia, particularly China, the UEC offers practical empowerment through the mastery of the Chinese language at a sufficiently high level.

It is precisely this kind of added value that contributes to the global recognition of the UEC, including by prestigious universities such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore); the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University (Japan); Peking University and Tsinghua University (China); the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University (Netherlands); Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin (Ireland); National Taiwan University (NTU, Taiwan); the University of Toronto (Canada); Melbourne University (Australia); and others.

In short, the UEC is uniquely positioned to further enrich the national education system with the aforementioned value propositions. Consequently, the recognition of the UEC by the government would be a victory for all Malaysians and a loss for none.

UEC upholds national education aspirations, development goals

Dong Zong reiterates with conviction that the demand for UEC recognition has never been in conflict with the National Education Policy and the Education Act 1996; rather, it complements them.

We uphold the dignity of BM in line with the intent of the National Language Act 1963/67 and Article 152 of the Federal Constitution. Such a demand does not violate them.

We wish to continue contributing our strength and service to Malaysia’s nation-building, instead of being seen as an impediment to it.

As UEC passes its 50th anniversary this year, Dong Zong calls upon all parties to approach this issue with an open mind.

We also invite all Malaysians to join hands with us to further advance the national education system in fulfilling the objectives of the national education philosophy.

Only through this unity can we, as an independent and sovereign nation, guarantee Malaysia’s integrity, harmony, and prosperity. - FMT

Tan Yew Sing is chairman of the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.