Referring to a recent call by Dong Zong chairman Vincent Lau, Zakaria Kasa of the National Professor’s Council said he was concerned that the education ministry might make policy changes without the benefit of a careful study.
Last week, Lau urged the ministry to allow students from Chinese independent schools to sit for the SPM Bahasa Melayu paper and to recognise the credit thus earned for their admission to public universities.
Speaking to newsmen after he had met Umno information chief Annuar Musa at the Dong Zong office, Lau said, “We feel it is a reasonable request. Allow the UEC students to sit only for the SPM BM paper instead of all six compulsory subjects.”
Zakaria said the ministry should consider the wisdom of exempting UEC students from the other five compulsory subjects – English, History, Mathematics, Science, and Moral Education or Islamic Studies.
At least History should be kept compulsory, he said. “You cannot remove History just like that. It is important that the students understand Malaysian history.”
He said it might be reasonable to leave out Mathematics and Science, which he described as “universal subjects”.