A SERIES of engagements by the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) task force has revealed what stakeholders perceive as weaknesses in the national education system.

Task force chairman Eddin Khoo told reporters in Putrajaya today that many of the students interviewed said the system does not allow them to pick up vernacular languages in national schools.

“The perception is that there is a failure in the national education system, the syllabus and the curriculum. Every time there is a new education minister, there is a new policy.

“These are the findings from our engagements. Almost everyone interviewed agreed with them.

“Some Malay students told us that they want to learn Mandarin, and some Chinese students said they want to interact in Bahasa Malaysia.”

The task force is preparing a report on UEC for the Education Ministry.

It has held 72 engagements with individuals, political parties, educationists and civil society groups to gather feedback on the matter. The meetings totalled 150 hours, and cut across racial and generational lines.

The report will not contain just the team’s findings, but also transcripts from the meetings, Khoo previously The Malaysian Insight.

Pakatan Harapan, in its 14th general election manifesto, pledged to recognise UEC.

Besides Khoo, other members of the task force 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 school students 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 located in Sabah and Sarawak.

Khoo today said most of those interviewed expressed a desire for an overall change in the education system.

“They want the system to be more inclusive. Among the more interesting ideas is the introduction of languages in schools.”

Raimi said stakeholders want the UEC issue to be used to strengthen racial unity in the country.

“Regarding languages, Malaysians want to master more than just their mother tongue.

“Generally, everyone wants this issue to take on the perspective of unity. But the question is, how do we move forward?”

Khoo said the task force’s report will be ready by month-end, with members to have a session with MPs on October 16.

The report will be made public, he said.

So far, five states have recognised UEC, namely Selangor, Malacca, Sabah, Sarawak and Penang. – October 4, 2019.