'Umno leader's claim on UEC biased'
Published on: Friday, December 09, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Umno Kuala Krau Division delegate Datuk Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad has misunderstood the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and exaggerated his claim that proponents of the independent Chinese certification intended to grab power from the Malays.Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Deputy Central Women Leader Glenna Wong said it is necessary for the open-minded Umno leaders to explain to their members that Chinese education and the independent school system have actually groomed many talents for the country.She said Syed Ibrahim's claim that recognising UEC would threaten the Malays was biased, given that Chinese independent schools have contributed immensely to the country for several decades.
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"Although Chinese independent schools and UEC were not a part of the national education system, the students of independent schools are Malaysians, who would serve the country and our diverse community upon completing their studies."In fact, the Malaysian independent school students were actually very much welcomed by foreign universities, some of which even offered scholarships to facilitate their enrolment into the higher learning institutions."Some independent school graduates have become experts of specific fields and are employed by international organisations," Wong said in a statement here on Wednesday.Wong emphasised that recognising UEC would not harm other races and in actual fact, the Chinese independent schools serve as an additional platform to nurture talents in our country, including non-Chinese students.
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In Sabah, she said there are Malay students who have opted to enrol in Chinese independent schools and successfully completed their studies.Wong, who is also LDP Likas Division Women chief, said the State Government's annual allocation to Chinese independent schools showed that the state administration recognised the contribution of Chinese independent schools to education, which the Federal Government and other states should emulate.
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Despite the negative perception of some Umno delegates about Chinese education and independent schools, she said there are some open-minded delegates such as Pasir Salak Umno delegate Datuk Dr Wan Norashikin Wan Noordin, who urged the government to expand the availability of Mandarin elective classes to more schools so that more national primary school pupils could learn the language.She said being fluent in Mandarin would be a major advantage in the future as China's economy has taken off, not to mention the signing of numerous collaboration deals between Malaysia and China recently.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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