KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — A full report by the special committee on recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) will be presented to the Cabinet in 2019, Education Minister Maszlee Malik told Parliament today.
Maszlee was answering predecessor Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid who asked for the timeline and status of the study done on the UEC.
“On the timeframe, in 2019, the research done by the committee will be presented to us (Education Ministry).
“Then it will be brought up to the Cabinet for it to decide,’’ he said.
The special committee in question includes Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association) deputy president Tan Yew Sing, historian Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim’s son Eddin Khoo and Abim (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia) president Mohamad Raimi Ab Rahim.
Earlier, Maszlee questioned the sincerity of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) previous efforts in recognising the UEC.
“We found that a lot of misinformation on the UEC, whether from those who are for or against the UEC, was because there was no engagement process to discuss the issue in an open, transparent and rational manner.
“As a responsible government, we exercise the process of consultation with all sides so that the decision we maje is based on bottom-up (approach) and not top-down (approach) as what has been done by the previous government.”
Maszlee added that the matter must be discussed holistically and should not be politicised by any party.
The minister also took a swipe at the Opposition by claiming they did not do their homework on the UEC and were only engrossed with his policy on the colour of school shoes.
This led BN MPs to mock him as the “minister of shoes”.
