KLUANG: The government is awaiting reports from the special task force on the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) before deciding if the certificate should be recognised nationwide, says Dr Maszlee Malik (pic).
"We need to get reports from the committee's findings first before we can decide on it.
"Once we have received it, the ministry would then bring it forward for the Cabinet to make a decision," said the Education Minister.
He said this to reporters after attending the Sentuhan Kasih Program at SMK Dato Abd Rahman Andak in Simpang Renggam here Sunday (Sept 29).
Dr Maszlee was reported as saying in Parliament that the special committee would consult with stakeholders, collect feedback and compile data on UEC.
When asked to comment on Sabah's decision to recognise the UEC, Dr Maszlee said it was a choice the state had made on its own.
It was earlier reported that the Sabah state government had given the nod to UEC, making it the fifth state to do so after Sarawak, Selangor, Penang and Melaka.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the state Cabinet had made the decision to recognise UEC holders for enrolment into local institutes of higher learning as well as employment in the state civil service.
However, this comes with conditions including getting a credit in Bahasa Melayu and a pass in History at the SPM level as well as a pass in the Malaysia University English Test (MUET).
The UEC is a standardised test organised by the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Jiao Zong) based on the curriculum taught in Independent Chinese Secondary Schools (ICSS).
UEC is recognised as an entrance qualification in many international tertiary educational institutions in Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, China and some European countries, as well as most private colleges in Malaysia.
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