Any proposal concerning the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) must be guided by national principles and legal foundations, and cannot be determined by political pressure or narrow demands from any quarter, the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) said today.
Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir stressed that the Unity Government maintains a firm position on the status of Bahasa Melayu as the National Language and the primary medium of knowledge, a fundamental principle that applies uniformly across all education streams.
He said the stance reinforces Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s reminder that all education systems – including Chinese, Tamil, Arabic, English-medium and international schools – must ensure strong proficiency in Bahasa Melayu in line with the Federal Constitution and the nation’s aspirations for identity building and unity.
“At MOHE, we will continue strengthening the direction of Malaysia’s higher education sector to ensure it remains inclusive, progressive and globally competitive.
“Emphasis will remain on Bahasa Melayu as a core language, including its role as a language of technology and scholarship,” he said in a statement.
Zambry added that efforts to elevate the national language would be pursued in tandem with the strengthening of English and other languages such as Mandarin, Tamil, Arabic and various indigenous languages. The objective, he said, is to nurture graduates who are multilingual, balanced and grounded in national values.
“We want to ensure that our graduates are not only linguistically competent but also capable of meeting global demands without losing their national identity,” he added.
-EDUCATION TVET ASIA