KOTA KINABALU: Minister of Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang expressed regret over Education Minister P Kamalanathan’s statement that the government would not recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) for reasons of national interest and sovereignty.
“I wonder whether he knew what he was talking about.
“While it is acceptable that for now, the government does not recognise UEC because it does not fall squarely within the national curriculum and education policy, I cannot understand how is it related to national sovereignty.
“It was said that the government’s stand was based on a cabinet decision on November 6, 2015.
“I don’t think that the federal cabinet can be so rigid on the issue of recognising UEC. Ministers who take interest in this matter should clarify to clear the air,” Teo said in a statement yesterday.
On Tuesday, Kamalanathan said in the Dewan Rakyat that the government’s refusal to recognise the UEC was due to issues of “national sovereignty”.
He said the Cabinet in a meeting on Nov 6 last year decided not to recognise the certificate because the examination was not based on the national curriculum and education philosophy.
Teo, who is also the president of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said yesterday that when he met the Prime Minister in his office on November 9, 2015, he raised the issue of UEC and asked that the discussion with Dong Zong be reopened.
“The Prime Minister’s only concerns were the syllabus for History, and Bahasa Malaysia standard.
“I think such issues can be discussed on the round table.
“It may involve some give and take. I don’t think Dong Zong and the government are totally irreconcilable on these issues,” he said.
In the meeting, Teo said he had also briefed the Prime Minister the uniqueness of the Chinese Independent Schools in Sabah, in that all their students sit for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), and thus followed the national curriculum.
In fact, he said every year a considerable number of students leave schools for further studies after sitting for the SPM in Senior 2, therefore opt out the UEC examination which is only due in Senior 3.
“On the possibility of the Sabah state government recognising UEC, the Prime Minister was quite amenable and took cognisance of the state government’s right if we choose to do so.
“I also reported to the Chief Minister on what had transpired in my said meeting with the Prime Minister,” he said.
Meanwhile, Teo is working on preparation of a cabinet paper on UEC.