A PUBLIC university student alliance wants a rethink on the Universities and University Act 1971 (Auku) which it says continues to curtail freedom of expression.

The New Students Movement Alliance of Malaysia (Nesa) wants more autonomy for the higher institutions of learning.

The Auku has been amended seven times since it was gazetted in 1971. The last amendment was in 2019.

The government announced last week in parliament that it had no plans to abolish Auku.

But it added it was looking to improve the act so that university students will have more freedom to participate in political activities.

“The ministry is of the view that the existing act is still relevant in enforcing its functions, especially for matters related to university governance.

“The repeal of Auku will affect the governance of public universities, especially during the transition of the act.

“In fact, this repeal process requires further research since it involves several other Acts that are also in force, for example the Private Higher Education Institutions Act 1996 (Act 555), the Education Act 1996 (Act 550), the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605( and several other acts supervised under other ministries or agencies

“However, the ministry is always open to any suggestion to improve the act,” it said.

Nesa secretary Liau Pin Chun said the Auku deeply affects the freedom of college students.

“Student groups are not allowed to hold money. Strictly speaking, even the collection of membership fees is against the law of the university.

“The law requires that all the money collected by the students be deposited in the university finance department, and when the student group needs to use the money they need to ask permission,” said Liau.

“The process is very long and affects their activities.”

Liau said Auku also allows politicians to decide who administers the universities.

She said a minister can determine who occupes the top positions in public universities.

“Under the Universities Act, the president has the right to appoint the dean of each college. The minister has the right to pick the people to fill the important positions in management and even on the board of directors. The minister has the obligation to ensure that the university is moving in line with the direction of the country.”

Liau said the best way forward is to abolish the Auku.

She hoped the Pakatan Harapan-led unity government will continue from where it had left off in 2020.

The Pakatan Harapan government had promised to abolish the Auku on its 2018 general election manifesto.

Then education minister Maszlee Malik and then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had promised to look into repealing the act.

At that time, Maszlee had formed a group to study the abolition of Auku and invited student leaders and student activists to join the group.

In its manifesto for the 2022 general election PH again promised to abolish Auku.

TAR Association New Youth representative Wong Yan Zhi said Pakatan Harapan in its first stint in power had allowed student participation in politics.

“But that was only a small change because the regulations restricting the freedom of college students are still there,” he said.

One-time student leader and Muda president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman yesterday reminded Pakatan Harapan that it had pledged to scrap Auku.

“Many of the leaders had repeated the pledge in the ceramah,” he wrote on Instagram.

 “We must hold on to this commitment. Students must be equipped with critical thinking skills and that starts in the classroom,” he said in the post.

He said he was a victim of Auku and was sacked from his job as a temporary lecturer and debate trainer at universities following his criticism of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal. – February 26, 2023.