We recognize UEC but they don’t
Updated: Aug 22, 2022
Public thoughts towards UEC in Malaysia.
By Wong Xue Cheng
Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), a certificate which is recognised by institutions such as National University of Singapore that is highly ranked in the world, but not recognised by its own motherland. Meanwhile, most of our friends think differently from what we expected.
“There is no necessity to recognize the UEC,” said Guo Hao, a 27-year-old Chinese Independent School Teacher, who is also an UEC holder himself.
He further explained that the recognition of UEC will not help when most of the students and their parents already planned their future upon entering the Chinese Independent School.
“SPM is the lowest requirement for job seeking and government protection. Even with UEC which is a higher qualification than SPM, it is essential for them to have SPM as well,” he said.
Primary school student taking admission examination
Image courtesy of Guo Hao
“Chinese schools should take English more seriously even though the purpose of Chinese schools is to inherit the Chinese education,” Guo Hao suggested. He shared his experience of studying in Taiwan where all the study materials are based in English as well. UEC holders mostly do not have a good English background which may be difficult for them to continue their higher education after secondary school. Guo Hao also feels that recognizing UEC will not threaten social harmony, as there is a race quota system implemented in Malaysia.
“Even though Malaysia recognizes UEC, SPM is still necessary for me,” said Jia Yi, a 22-year-old UEC holder, currently pursuing her higher education at Kajang’s private university. She feels that only emphasising on UEC will give a bad impression on personality traits when going through the job seeking process.
Campus view of Foon Yew High School
“I feel stressed and challenged when studying in private universities based on the English language. However, it is really a seamless admission for me to get into the university using UEC,” said Jia Yi, believing that Chinese Independent Schools should work on English and Malay to get UEC recognized in Malaysia.
Graduation of Chinese Independent School student
Ling Feng, a 25-year-old UEC holder who just completed her study in National Taiwan University shared her opinions towards the recognition of UEC. “It’s not a must to recognize UEC. It’s already been there for so many years,” said Ling Feng. She believes UEC does not need the recognition to make it valuable and the recognition is only like icing on the cake. If UEC gets recognized in future, Ling Feng hopes the education system in Malaysia can grow from each other and lead Malaysia education to a better future. “People get to choose their secondary education without being discriminate based on their races and mother language.”
“It is education, racial issues shouldn't be brought into it when it comes to recognition considerations,” said Miya, a 44-year-old mother of two students who studied in a Chinese Independent School. She decided to send her children to Chinese Independent School as she believes qualifications are not everything. “Chinese independent schools offer more knowledge and I think it is worthy under my consideration even if it is not recognized by our government,” said Miya. Additionally, Miya also relates to the decision on not recognizing UEC as they have their own consideration for their education system.
Parents sending their kids to Chinese Independent School
Image courtesy of Miya
“It’s only for references when it comes to your knowledge,” said Vincent, a 25-year-old manager, who has been in charge of recruiting employees for the company. He expressed his view towards the certificates in Malaysia, which he thinks everything is more about one’s personality traits when it comes to job recruitment. “I don’t think UEC holders will get different status immediately if UEC gets recognized,” said Vincent. He thinks it takes years to change the recruiting environment if UEC is recognized as the industry need to work on the way to differentiate the UEC holders’ qualification with STPM holders.
Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)
“The qualifications needed to get into my classes have already been made,” said Anthony, lecturer from private university. He believes that UEC has the qualifications which enables the certificate holder to enroll into university. “Anything that opens the gate further for people to expand growth is good for the individual and the organizations they entered,” said Anthony when it comes to the recognition of UEC. Anthony added that UEC holders find it is harder to adapt the English environment but having more diverse qualifications will be helpful to increase the quality of critical thinking that graduates should have.
Class in Chinese Independent School
Many believe that Chinese Independent Schools need to work on English and Malay regardless of the recognition of UEC. As far as we know, UEC has been recognized by many institutions and organizations, and also in our hearts. We all understand the level of UEC examination and it’s recognized by us.
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