FMT:
UEC report scuppered by Covid-19, govt change, says defunct task force
However, former task force chairman Eddin Khoo says the report is still relevant.
Eddin Khoo said the task force was established to gather feedback from stakeholders on issues related to the UEC.
PETALING JAYA: A report on the admittance of Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) graduates into public universities and the civil service was not submitted to the government due to two “extraordinary circumstances”, a now-defunct task force said.
The two “extraordinary circumstances” were the Covid-19 pandemic and the change in government in 2020, former UEC task force chairman Eddin Khoo said.
However, Khoo said the task force’s report was still relevant.
“We asked to postpone the submission of the report a couple of times before because we decided to engage with more stakeholders. Then came the political crisis.
“We tried to meet the then minister after that but due to the global pandemic, we were unable to,” he told FMT. He was referring to Radzi Jidin who was the education minister under the Perikatan Nasional government.
Khoo said this when asked to comment on education minister Fadhlina Sidek’s revelation that Putrajaya never received any report from the task force formed in 2018 to gather views on recognising the UEC.
Fadhlina also said that as the task force failed to submit their report on time, it was automatically dissolved.
Khoo went on to say that Fadhlina’s answers showed she was not very clear on the task force’s responsibilities.
“This may be because she’s still new in office.”
He said there was no issue about recognising the UEC, which was among the key pledges in Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto for the 14th and 15th general elections.
The coalition promised to make public higher education institutions recognise the UEC, on the condition that applicants had at least a credit for the Bahasa Melayu paper in their SPM examination. Currently, only Sarawak recognises the UEC.
“The task force was established to gather feedback from stakeholders on issues related to the UEC,” Khoo said.
Khoo said he was willing to meet with Fadhlina and higher education minister Khaled Nordin to clarify the matter.
PETALING JAYA: A report on the admittance of Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) graduates into public universities and the civil service was not submitted to the government due to two “extraordinary circumstances”, a now-defunct task force said.
The two “extraordinary circumstances” were the Covid-19 pandemic and the change in government in 2020, former UEC task force chairman Eddin Khoo said.
However, Khoo said the task force’s report was still relevant.
“We asked to postpone the submission of the report a couple of times before because we decided to engage with more stakeholders. Then came the political crisis.
“We tried to meet the then minister after that but due to the global pandemic, we were unable to,” he told FMT. He was referring to Radzi Jidin who was the education minister under the Perikatan Nasional government.
Khoo said this when asked to comment on education minister Fadhlina Sidek’s revelation that Putrajaya never received any report from the task force formed in 2018 to gather views on recognising the UEC.
Fadhlina also said that as the task force failed to submit their report on time, it was automatically dissolved.
Khoo went on to say that Fadhlina’s answers showed she was not very clear on the task force’s responsibilities.
“This may be because she’s still new in office.”
He said there was no issue about recognising the UEC, which was among the key pledges in Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto for the 14th and 15th general elections.
The coalition promised to make public higher education institutions recognise the UEC, on the condition that applicants had at least a credit for the Bahasa Melayu paper in their SPM examination. Currently, only Sarawak recognises the UEC.
“The task force was established to gather feedback from stakeholders on issues related to the UEC,” Khoo said.
Khoo said he was willing to meet with Fadhlina and higher education minister Khaled Nordin to clarify the matter.
I still believe every government will be loathe to recognise the UEC for fear of stirring the sensitivities of the malays.
ReplyDeletefear of stirring the sensitivities of the malays??!!
ReplyDeleteNo… no
For fear of losing a vocal fart to champion the ketuanan narratives!
Reply