In a written parliamentary reply, Fadhlina said the task force’s terms of reference gave the panel between three to six months from Nov 29, 2018 to submit its report.

She added this deadline was deferred six times, until Feb 29, 2020.

“However, until the final date, the task force had yet to submit the report on its study. Since the study period was not extended and had ended, the task force was automatically disbanded on the same date,” she said.

Fadhlina reiterated that the ministry had no plans to recognise the school-leaving examination certificate of Chinese-medium high schools.

She was replying to Nazri Abu Hassan (PN-Merbok), who had asked about the task force’s findings on the UEC.

When Pakatan Harapan formed the government in 2018, it formed a task force to gather views on recognising the UEC, which was also among the coalition’s election pledges for the 14th general election.

Led by sociologist Eddin Khoo, the task force included then Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) president Raimi Abdul Rahim and then Dong Zong deputy president Tan Yew Sing.

However, its work ceased after the change of government in 2020, though the task force had reportedly completed a report.

Recognising the UEC was also among the key pledges in PH’s manifesto for the 15th general election. The coalition promised to make public higher education institutions recognise the UEC, on the condition that applicants had at least a credit for the Bahasa Melayu paper in their SPM examination.