GE14 | For the first time ever, BN's has included the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) as part of its election pledges.

However, whether a new BN government would recognise the UEC as a qualification for public universities is still in question.

According to item 26 of chapter 4 of BN's manifesto, the coalition pledged that Malaysians with qualifications that were on par with SPM (Certificate of Education) and STPM (Higher School Certificate) can be "considered" for university entrance.

This is contingent upon the applicant obtaining a credit for the Bahasa Malaysia examination and a pass for history.

The manifesto does not specify if this would apply to applications for public universities, because the manifesto only mentioned "IPT (institut pengajian tinggi)" and not "IPTS" (private universities) or "IPTA" (public universities).

The Mandarin version of the manifesto mentioned public universities specifically.

As for the UEC, both versions mentioned it in passing.

"The condition (for a credit in BM and a pass in history) also can be applied in the issue regarding UEC," read the manifesto.

The UEC has regularly been a political hot potato over the past few general elections.

Chinese education group Dong Jiao Zong sets the syllabus for UEC, which is recognised in most parts of the world, but not here.

Opponents to the UEC, particularly from Umno, have argued that the UEC was not compatible with the local curriculum, especially in terms of Bahasa Malaysia and history.

In contrast, Pakatan Harapan and its predecessor Pakatan Rakyat have both pledged to allow public universities to accept applications from UEC holders.