By Selangor Journal Staff
KUALA LUMPUR: Passing Bahasa Malaysia and History will be made compulsory for the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) should Putrajaya recognises the Chinese examination in the future.
The call was made by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) board of governors chair Mohamed Hatta Shaharom who said that any decision on the school-leaving certificate in Chinese independent high schools must take into account matters in the Federal Constitution.
He said that Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution clearly stated that the national language of Malaysia is the Bahasa Malaysia language.
“History subject must be included in a comprehensive holistic review. We must take into account Malaysia’s best interest.”
“This relates to national unity, as the first issue is the sovereignty of Bahasa Malaysia,” Mohamed Hatta was quoted saying by online portal Malaysiakini, during a press conference at the DBP headquarters earlier.
Ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan in its manifesto had promised to recognise the UEC exams should they come into power.
Education Minister Maszlee Malik had said that the new government will fulfil this pledge adding that thorough study needs to be done before Putrajaya can decide on recognising UEC.
The UEC exams have limited recognition in the states of Sarawak, Selangor, Malacca and Penang. Those with the certificate are able to apply for jobs in the civil service so long as they passed Bahasa Malaysia.
Previously, United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong) have agreed that Bahasa Malaysia is a compulsory pass paper in SPM as a requirement for the government to recognise UEC.
They also pointed out that the History subject in the UEC syllabus comprised about 57% of the national history.
