PH manifesto not the only reference point, education minister says on UEC

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek today said that the government would not refer only to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto in forming its policy on the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), the certificate of graduation from Chinese independent schools which had formed part of the coalition's manifesto for the recent polls. 

Speaking in Putrajaya at her first press conference as education minister, Fadhlina, who was accompanied by her deputy Lim Hui Ying, said the issue would be studied from time to time. 

"Anything related to the manifesto will be reviewed as we are now in a unity government, we are no longer talking about the PH manifesto alone," she said. 

"Even the manifesto, we will look at from time to time." 

Calls for the recognition of UEC – a matter heavily highlighted in both the PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) campaigns – were revived after the formation of the new government. 

Both coalitions had pledged to recognise the certificate as a qualification for entering local institutions of higher education. 

Proponents of the move included education bodies such as the Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia, better known as Dong Zong, which had urged PH to fulfil its manifesto vow first made at the 14th general election in 2018. 

The UEC is already recognised by private institutions in the country as well as a number of overseas universities and those in Penang, Melaka, Sabah, Sarawak and Selangor. 

However, it is not regulated by the education ministry at the central level.

In its 2018 election manifesto, BN said it would grant recognition for the UEC on condition that certificate holders obtain a credit in Bahasa Melayu and a pass in history in the Form Five SPM examination. 

PH meanwhile promised that the UEC would be allowed as proof of qualification for public universities if students also had a credit in SPM Bahasa Melayu.