UEC recognition - Dong Zong hopes to meet PM, Education Ministry
Dong Zong has urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Education Ministry to arrange for a meeting with the organisation to discuss government recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
This after it was reported that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had denied that Prime Muhyiddin Yassin had told the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) that the government would recognise the UEC.
Dong Zong has urged Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Education Ministry to arrange for a meeting with the organisation to discuss government recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
This after it was reported that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had denied that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had told the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) that the government would recognise the UEC.
Dong Zong called for all parties to have a rational dialogue on the issue from an education perspective rather than confronting one another.
"We also call upon the prime minister and the Education Ministry to arrange a meeting with Dong Zong as soon as possible to discuss the issue of the recognition of the UEC," it said in a statement today.
Dong Zong recalled that during the general election in 2018, both ruling and opposition parties had reached a consensus and had included UEC recognition as part of their campaign commitments.
It said, unfortunately, certain political parties painted the issue as a challenge towards the official status of Bahasa Melayu thus provoking controversy.
"In fact, in recent years the government had allowed higher education institutions in the country to recognise the UEC They include local private universities, state-owned universities and government-linked universities," said Dong Zong.
It noted the government in 2012 also allowed UEC holders to apply for the Bachelor of Education teacher training programme (PISMP) for Chinese language studies provided by Malaysian Institute of Teachers Education (IPGM) under the Education Ministry.
Currently, there are several states which officially recognise the UEC including Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah and Sarawak, it added.
Political hot potato
The UEC, a standardised test for Chinese independent high school students since 1975, has been a political hot potato in Malaysia for decades.
For public service entrance, the UEC is generally not recognised apart from exceptions such as the state civil services of Malacca and Sarawak. For Sarawak, this is on the condition that the candidate also passes the SPM Bahasa Malaysia examination.
The UEC was mentioned in both the BN and Pakatan Harapan election manifestos in their 14th general election campaigns.
Dong Zong noted that many politicians, as well as officials from the Education Ministry in recent years, were willing to set aside racial baggage and discuss the recognition of the UEC from a practical, professional and rational perspective.
It said it was also understood that other ethnic communities wrongly perceived the UEC programme as an imported product from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
It clarified that the UEC programme itself was mainly based on the Education Ministry's guideline and adequately reflected the national education policy.
The educationist body reiterated its respect for the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the official language, accepting BM as a compulsory subject in the UEC programme and accepting the government rule that UEC holders must possess a credit for the SPM Bahasa Malaysia examination.
Thus, it said it was calling upon the Perikatan Nasional government to relaunch the UEC discussion based on the consensus reached by both sides of the divide prior to GE2018.
The Education Ministry was also urged to accept the final report by the UEC Task Force as soon as possible to allow the report to be made public for further in-depth discussions.
With both racists scumno and PUS, DZ don't waste your time...