PM: Entry for UEC holders to public uni still subject to strict conditions, must pass BM and History

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said admission of students holding the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) into public institutions of higher learning remains subject to strict conditions, similar to other graduates from schools outside the national education system.

He said one of the key requirements for eligibility to secure a place in public universities is a compulsory pass in Bahasa Malaysia and History.

“We impose conditions on international schools, don’t we? International schools also have Malaysian students, many of them Malay students. So we apply the same requirements.

“For maahad tahfiz and Arabic schools, which previously delivered their entire curriculum in Arabic but did not place sufficient emphasis on Malay language and History, we impose the same conditions.

“That is why we made this decision (to provide a pathway for UEC students),” he said when launching the national-level Teachers’ Day celebration in Ipoh today.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad.

Positive shift

The prime minister described the landscape of Chinese private schools in the country as having undergone a positive shift towards national integration, compared with conditions four decades ago.

He said that although the issue of recognising the UEC has been discussed for decades, there has now been encouraging progress, with more than 80 percent of students from that stream opting to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.

“When I first discussed UEC graduates as education minister with (the late) Abdul Rahman Arshad, who was the director-general of Education, we faced difficulties in making headway, because at that time, Chinese schools were completely detached from the national education framework.

“And in several meetings with me, the teachers refused to speak a single word in Malay,” he said.

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However, Anwar stressed that the situation has now changed entirely, in line with the spirit of unity and openness within the national education system.

He noted that in recent meetings, all representatives of the relevant associations have been speaking fluent Malay.

- Bernama

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