THE final report on recognising the Unified Exam Certificate (UEC) will be ready by year-end, said Education Minister Maszlee Malik and it will be tabled at the cabinet for discussion.

Due to its impact on the federal constitution and education policies, recognising the UEC, which is used by independent Chinese schools, must be done carefully and intelligently, said Maszlee.

“Resolving the issue is like tarik rambut daripada tepung (pulling out hair from a mound of flour), where we have to extract the hair carefully without allowing the mound to collapse,” Maszlee told the Dewan Rakyat today.

The report will include details, such as feedback from about 400 stakeholders, including academics, educationists, youth groups and parents, he said.

The report will also contain 38 transcripts from all the stakeholder sessions and interviews so as to be fair to all those who gave their feedback, he said.

Recognising the UEC will impact on the constitution, national education policy and national language policy, Maszlee said.

“We can’t see education issues in terms of just communal interests but in terms of national interests,” Maszlee said in response to Rosol Wahid (PH-Hulu Terengganu).

Recognition of the UEC is a key promise in Pakatan Harapan’s 14th general election manifesto but since taking power, it has dragged its feet on fulfilling it.

The administration then formed a task force headed by Eddin Khoo. Its other two members are Dong Zong deputy president Tan Yew Sing, who also heads the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, and Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia president Mohamad Raimi Abdul Rahim.

UEC is a standardised test for independent Chinese secondary schools organised by the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia since 1975.

The exam was launched after the Chinese schools refused to use English as the medium of instruction and join the national education system at the end of the 1960s. At the time, there were 62 such schools nationwide, with a third of them in Sabah and Sarawak.

The reluctance to recognise the UEC is one reason behind PH’s crushing defeat in the Tg Piai by-election this month where it lost by 15,000 votes – one of the worst for a ruling coalition.

Maszlee added that the ministry is also preparing its long-term road map on education policy which is slated to be implemented in 2021.

The road map will incorporate aspects of past education blueprints. – November 26, 2019.