Ramasamy said National Professors Council (MPN) president Raduan Che Rose would know that some Malaysian public universities use English as the medium of instruction, perhaps to prepare them for international exposure.

He asked Raduan whether this also contradicted the Federal Constitution or national education framework, since the academic had emphasised the importance of Bahasa Melayu with regards to the UEC.

“In his zeal to reject recognition of the UEC, Raduan fails to explain why English is used as the medium of instruction at some public universities in the country.

“(Based on his argument) the use of English at public universities might not be constitutional and might stand in the way of the implementation of Bahasa Melayu as the national language,” he said in a statement.

Ramasamy also maintained that while Bahasa Melayu is the national language, the Federal Constitution provides for vernacular schools to use Mandarin or Tamil as their medium of instruction.

Raduan was quoted by NST as saying that the UEC operated “outside the national curriculum governance framework” despite its academic quality.

He said any academic qualification recognised by public universities or for entry into public service must include proficiency in Bahasa Melayu while reflecting “national history, constitutional literacy, and civic education”.

In arguing against Putrajaya recognising the UEC in its current state, the MPN president said there was a need for a “sober, principled examination rooted in the Federal Constitution, national education policy, and Malaysia’s nation-building aspirations”.

The UEC was created by the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia, or Dong Zong, to provide a unified examination after these schools opted out of the national curriculum in 1961 to maintain Chinese-medium instruction.

It is academically equivalent to the national Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia or international A-level but is not recognised for direct entry to public universities.

It is accepted in Sabah and Sarawak for entry to state-run universities.