KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) called today for a compulsory pass in the Bahasa Malaysia and History subjects in the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) if the government decides to recognise the Chinese curriculum.
News portal Malaysiakini quoted DBP board of governors chair Mohamed Hatta Shaharom as saying that any decision on the school-leaving certificate in Chinese independent high schools must take into account Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution that states that the national language is the Malay language, the National Language Act 1963/67 and the Education Act 1996.
“History subject must be included in a comprehensive holistic review (by the Education Ministry).
“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 during a press conference at the DBP headquarters today.
The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong) have previously said they were agreeable to the criterion of a credit in the Bahasa Malaysia paper in SPM, the Form Five public examination, as a requirement for the government to recognise UEC.
The two associations also said the History subject in the UEC syllabus comprised about 57 per cent national history.
Education Minister Maszlee Malik reportedly said recently that his ministry was conducting holistic research before deciding on whether to recognise the UEC for entry into public universities and the civil service.
