KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet has reaffirmed a decision made on Nov 6 last year that the negotiation process will continue for recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) paper, says MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
The statement made in Parliament on Tuesday was untrue, Liow said, adding that he had requested the Education Ministry to make a clarification.
Liow was quoted as saying this in a report by Sin Chew Daily’s late edition yesterday.
He confirmed that the Cabinet decided yesterday that further discussions would be held with the Higher Education and Education Ministries on recognising the UEC.
In Parliament on Tuesday, a deputy minister claimed that the Government’s refusal to recognise the UEC was due to issues of “national sovereignty”.
On Thursday, Liow urged the deputy minister concerned to retract the statement.
“This is his personal view and not the Government’s. He may not have had the necessary information when he commented on the matter and this might mislead the public,” said Liow, who is also Transport Minister.
The UEC is the certification standard used by Chinese independent secondary schools nationwide.
More than 800 universities in the world accept the UEC graduates, including the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Oxford University and the University of Cambridge, but Malaysian public universities have yet to do so.
MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong supported Liow’s statement, saying that the Government would continue its engagement process with Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees’ Association) and the Chinese community on the UEC.
“The door is still open for discussions and negotiations,” said Dr Wee, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and chairman of the MCA education consultative committee which comprises Dong Zong, United Chinese School Teachers’ Association (Jia Zong) and Federation of Chinese Associations (Hua Zong), among others.
Dr Wee said the matter was brought up by MCA ministers during the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
“The Cabinet has reaffirmed its decision which was made on Nov 6 last year.
“The Cabinet’s decision is to carry on with the engagement to find solutions,” he said.
“The Cabinet is fully aware of the negotiations that are going on,” he said.
He added that apart from the Chinese education bodies, both ministries are also involved in the negotiations.-thestar
