KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching has pledged to have the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) officially recognised by the government before the end of this year.

According to a Malaysiakini report, Teo said that it would not be necessary to bring the matter to Parliament, seeing as a similar recognition was granted to the A-level certificate without debating it in Dewan Rakyat.

She, however, added that a mechanism to recognise UEC needs to first be established before the education minister can seek a green light from Parliament.

"I hope I can finish this job before this year end, that is my aim.

"It may take time to build a school, but this (UEC recognition) can be done as soon as possible. I don’t like to do things sloppily,” she reportedly said.

The UEC is the school-leaving certificate issued by independent Chinese-medium schools in Malaysia, introduced more than 40 years ago.

As a part of its electoral promises, Pakatan Harapan (PH) pledged to recognise UEC within 100 days of taking power.

Yesterday, Teo told reporters that she will be meeting leaders of the Dong Zong group of Chinese educationists next week to discuss the matter further.

By recognising the certificate, its holders may apply for entry into public universities and for employment in the public service, provided they obtain a credit score for Bahasa Malaysia.

The certificate has received limited recognition as an entry qualification in Sarawak, Selangor and Penang.

On July 2, Melaka became the fourth state to recruit UEC holders and offer employment at the state level.