Bugbears behind recognising UEC

THE recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) for entry into public institutions of higher learning is a long-standing issue between stakeholders and the Education Ministry.

Following Pakatan Harapan’s promise in its election manifesto to recognise the UEC and its victory in the 14th General Election, the issue has been brought up again and, as a student, I feel the need to share my views on the issue.

The underlying problem with the recognition of the UEC isn’t just the sovereignty of Bahasa Melayu. I’ve read and heard a lot of arguments that recognising it could threaten the rights of the bumiputra, and even as far as causing ethnic segregation in Malaysia. And I’ve yet to find a reason that is not racist.

There’s too much misinformation regarding vernacular education in Malaysia and politicians are to blame for pushing their agenda on this matter. As far as I know, vernacular education has existed for a long time. The argument about it being one of the challenges to uniting Malaysians makes no sense to me because vernacular schools are open to other ethnic groups. I myself attended a vernacular primary school with many children of other races.

Our challenge in uniting our country isn’t the existence of vernacular schools but rather the racial agenda being pushed on us. If the powers that be are so pressed about having multi-stream schools, I think it is best to start offering vernacular language classes as electives in national primary schools as well. The vision school ( sekolah wawasan) concept was a great idea to resolve the issue but the execution wasn’t done properly.

I also want to express my concern over the matter as a student who took the SPM-STPM route. Recognition of the UEC would allow more students to apply to public universities, resulting in stiffer competition. It’s well known that public universities are surprisingly difficult to get into, and having good grades doesn’t necessarily guarantee anyone a place in the top public universities because the competition is so strong.

I’m beyond grateful I ended up in one of the best in the country even though I didn’t get the course I wanted due to stiff competition. If and when the UEC is recognised, I can only imagine how much stiffer the competition will be. This isn’t about protecting bumiputra rights as the folks claim anymore, this is about the fate of students from national secondary schools regardless of their race.

As far as I know, parents who send their children to Chinese independent schools (CIS) have already made plans for them to study in universities abroad where the UEC is recognised. Public universities were merely their second option – or a backup plan as they called it.

I read up the public’s opinions on this matter on social media. For example, one Lowyat user wrote: “It matters because not all parents can afford overseas education. AND not all UEC students excel for scholarships from SG”.

If public institutions were merely a spare tyre then why should these folks expect UEC to be recognised? The latter only creates a complex situation where students from the SPM-STPM/matriculation route have a slimmer chance of getting into a public university. It gets harder when that was their only choice, seeing that not every parent can afford to send their children to local private universities, let alone abroad.

If the parents’ reason for sending their children to CIS is to study Chinese language, that could be done in a national secondary school. And if they meant to send their children abroad, then the recognition of the UEC shouldn’t be an issue for them.

There is logic to why the UEC wasn’t recognised as a qualification for entry into public universities, one being that CIS do not apply the policies and curriculum of the National Education System. Language proficiency is also another issue. It’s fair enough to say that even scoring a pass for both languages in SPM does not mean fluency. Compared to the A-level, the UEC is not widely recognised by foreign universities.

Another point worth pondering on is that by denying CIS students entry into national universities, we’re pushing them to other countries. On the other hand, if national universities were to start accepting UEC graduates, they would have an extra pool of talents to choose from, and ultimately help stem the brain drain Malaysia is currently facing.

Between the devil and the deep blue sea, there has to be a way out that accommodates both parties. The process of recognising the UEC is now in the works and the current Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik has got his ministry to look into the matter.

KELSEY M Kuantan