JOHOR BARU, April 29 — Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Iskandar Puteri parliamentary candidate for the 14th general election (GE14), Datuk Jason Teoh Sew Hock, pledged today that he will make vernacular education a top priority for the community.

“I have been working hard in the past to champion vernacular education for both the Chinese and Indian communities in the Iskandar Puteri community

“For me, this is part of the respective communities’ heritage and mother tongue which is something that should be promoted,” he said today.

Teoh said this during the sidelines of an event with the Indian community at SJKT Ladang Mutiara Rini here today.

Teoh, who is also the Gelang Patah MCA division chief, also said if he wins, he will build a Chinese vernacular school for the community within the next five years.

“This is my promise to the Chinese community and I will continue to promote vernacular education for all races,” he said.

On the issue of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), Teoh said he has been a proponent of standardising it, together with championing for equal standing of Chinese education.

The UEC has been in place since 1975 and while it is accepted by many universities abroad as an entry level qualification, it is not recognised in Malaysia for local university entrance.

In the past, Malay-based non-governmental organisations (NGO) have opposed efforts by the federal government to recognise the UEC as it runs counter to the national education policy, which specifies Bahasa Malaysia as the national language as provided for in the Education Act 1996, and Article 152 (1) of the federal constitution.

In its manifesto, BN’s main rival Pakatan Harapan (PH) said if it forms the federal government in the GE14, students and holders of UEC need only sit for a single Bahasa Malaysia (BM) paper for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) to have the credential recognised to enter local universities.

On May 9, Teoh will face-off with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang in a straight fight for the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary seat.