It was a great relief that after 43 years from its institution, the UEC was finally recognised by the BN government when it launched its manifesto for the GE14 recently.

However, this welcome news was sullied by the qualification that the recognition was conditional upon UEC graduates getting an SPM credit in Malay and pass in History.

To be fair to our civil service and local tertiary institutions such as UKM which uses BM as the medium of instruction, the requirement for SPM credit in Malay for UEC holders is reasonable.

As for the other tertiary institutions which use English as the teaching medium and enrol foreign students, that is a different matter altogether. Still, I would consider the requirement for SPM Malay as acceptable since it will help to promote the national language among our students.

Nevertheless, the requirement for an SPM pass in History is certainly unreasonable.

For a start, an SPM pass in History for a student applying for science courses is totally unnecessary. For another, is the History syllabus of the UEC not “Malaysian” enough? Is that the conclusion of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) after a professional audit of the UEC syllabuses?

If that is the case, how can any foreign student from any part of the globe qualify to enrol in a Malaysian tertiary institution since their syllabus cannot be as “Malaysian” as that of the UEC?

I have played a part in the tortuous journey in the recognition of the UEC since its institution in 1975 to know that if this unreasonable requirement of an SPM pass in History is not retracted before Election Day on May 9, we will continue to see more UEC politics in the future. After all, Pakatan Harapan has not set any conditions in their recognition of the UEC in their manifesto.

Recognising the UEC will allow MICSS graduates to be admitted into our public tertiary institutions as well as the civil and armed services, which is the stated intention of the government recently.

This will help to promote greater integration among Malaysians and also alleviate the financial plight of MICSS graduates who cannot afford tertiary education in the private colleges or abroad.

I hope BN leaders will treat this matter with urgency and give us the good news before next Wednesday to ensure that no Malaysian is left behind.

Kua Kia Soong is adviser for rights group SUARAM and former principal of New Era College.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.