SHAH ALAM – Any form of recognition towards the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) contradicts the spirit of the National Education Policy and will open the floodgates to disaster for the country's future.
Pas Central Ulamak Council Information Chief Datuk Mohd Nor Hamzah urged the government to remain firm and immediately halt what he termed a nonsensical agenda to recognise the UEC.
He stressed that no party should stand idly by and watch the national education system and the future of the nation's youth be ruined by narrow political manoeuvering.
"If the government stubbornly insists on executing the agenda of certain quarters, legal action must be taken against this decision, which clearly bypasses the Constitution.
"The Cabinet approval announced last Thursday clearly proves that this administration lacks firmness, has no clear policy direction, and is making reckless decisions.
"The attempt to slip in and mix UEC recognition alongside tahfiz (religious school) leavers is a shallow, cosmetic trick," he stated on his Facebook page on Friday.
The Higher Education Ministry previously announced that school leavers from tahfiz institutions as well as Chinese Independent High Schools (SMPC)/UEC will have the opportunity to pursue specific identified programmes at public universities and higher education institutions, also known as IPTA (Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam),
The move was agreed upon based on a Cabinet meeting decision regarding admission pathways into IPTAs for students from outside the national education system.
Commenting further, Mohd Nor argued that a "multipolar" or multi-stream education system has proven to be a failure as a medium for national unity.
He said under current realities, national unity is failing to be nurtured from an early age, while the role of the national language as a unifying tool continues to be sidelined in national-type schools.
"This directly widens the social gap and derails efforts toward assimilation and unity among the country's multiracial population.
"Steps to recognise a system that marginalises national policies will undoubtedly bring far greater mafsadah (harm) to social harmony and national identity, compared to the minor political gains being sought by certain parties," he concluded.