No to UEC recognition, govt says again

The education ministry has again made clear that it will not recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), in a move likely to rattle DAP, one of the main parties in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition government and which has been at the forefront of calls to recognise the private Chinese school examination.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the decision was in keeping with the National Education Policy as well as the the Education Act.

"To date, the education ministry has no plans to recognise the UEC conducted at private Chinese secondary schools," she said in a written parliamentary reply to a question from Sabri Azit yesterday.

This was the second time in less than two weeks that Fadhlina had said the government would not recognise the certificate.

On Feb 20, she said her ministry did not view the issue as a priority, in a reply to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

The UEC is considered a hot button issue for Anwar, whose Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has been struggling with a lack of Malay support following gains by Perikatan Nasional in the general election last year.

Umno, whose support was crucial for Anwar in forming the government, has attacked those calling for the UEC's recognition.

Days after Anwar took the top office last year, Chinese education group Dong Zong called for the UEC to be recognised for entry to local higher learning institutions.

In its general election manifesto last year, PH pledged to continue efforts to recognise the examination for entry into public universities by including a condition that applicants should possess at least a credit in their SPM Bahasa Melayu paper. 

"To fulfil this objective, the UEC will be accepted similarly to the existing general requirements for IPTA enrollment," said the PH manifesto.

In 2020, DAP leader Nga Kor Ming warned that the party would not hesitate to leave the PH administration led by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad if it refused to recognise the UEC.

"We have even reached a consensus – if the UEC is not recognised, DAP will go even to the extent of not hesitating to withdraw itself from the government.

"It's okay not to be in government. This is our basic principle that we will continue to uphold," he reportedly told Chinese-language Oriental Daily in an interview.