The Perak government is open to recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), but the holder needs to be fluent in Bahasa Malaysia as well as have a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) credit for the language.

Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said Perak, which is also a state government under Pakatan Harapan, would abide by Pakatan Harapan's manifesto for the 14th General Election to recognise the UEC.

"We are officially recognising it and as the Education Minister (Maszlee Malik) said, we are heading in that direction," he said.

He said this after presenting certificates and diplomas at the first session of the 2018 Perak Community College convocation ceremony at the Ulu Kinta Allied Health Sciences College in Ipoh today.

He said the state government would also accept UEC holders as civil service staff if they met the conditions.

Faizal said Malaysians would have to recognise the certificate to safeguard inter-racial relations in the country.

"I actually fear that some of us are too worried to talk about this certificate issue, to the point that it is hurting the feelings of other races in Malaysia.

"There is no reason to hold back the UEC holders' chances as long as they meet the conditions set," he said.

Recognition of the UEC was one of the promises in the Harapan manifesto.

UEC is a certificate issued by the Malaysian Chinese private secondary school and its implementation does not follow the national education system.

Faizal also said the state government was discussing with government-linked companies (GLCs) and the private sector to uplift the education of Perak-born individuals, especially those in the interior.

- Bernama