WITH the promise of a new Malaysia under the Mahathir administration, concerned Malaysians, particularly academics, expect substantive reform of the country’s public universities following the appointment of former academic Dr Maszlee Malik as education minister.

Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute of Singapore, Dr Lee Hwok Aun, said: “I would like to see a fundamental reset in how we envision and safeguard the role, value and function of universities.

“We will benefit from a clear, bold and public declaration of the centrality of academic freedom, critical thinking and inquisitive mindsets, including not just the freedom to challenge assumptions and question authority but also the value in doing so.”

Prof Zaharom Nain of Nottingham University Malaysia Campus said: “In consultation with the main stakeholders, such as academic staff associations, the Education Ministry will need to look at freedom from political interference in public tertiary institutions and provide that freedom.

“One clear example would be appointments of top university managers through to the whole of academia, where the practice of political appointments of vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, etc will have to go, to be replaced by university search committees comprising academics of quality and experience.”

Associate Professor Dr Faisal S. Haris of UKM’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies said the ministry should ensure that the recruitment of academics and support staff reflects the diversity of Malaysian society, and also be based on merit.

Dr Azmil Mohd Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Social Sciences said Maszlee should see to the abolishment of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) after assuming office.

He added that “UUCA has been the bane of university life for decades as it stifles academic freedom, stunts student autonomy and turns the campus into a mere factory churning out obedient workers.

“Academic freedom and student autonomy have to be reinstated in Malaysian public universities like what it was back in the 1960s and 1970s so that, for instance, there should be no need for student groups to ask the Student Affairs Department for approval every time they want to organise their activities.”

In calling for a similar repeal of the UUCA, Lee said: “Legal reform can protect academic freedom, but does not necessarily promote more vibrant, inquisitive and critical academic pursuit. 

“I would also recommend a thorough revision of curricula in public universities, to focus more on writing rather than making power-points, on asking questions rather than giving – and in most cases regurgitating – answers.”

Dr Khoo Ying Hooi, a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya, felt that there should be a balance of both science and arts/social sciences, where they ought to develop collaboratively so that social scientists should be accorded similar recognition with scientists.

Both Faisal and Zaharom said the National Council of Professors (MPN) should be abolished because it had been used to legitimise the ruling (BN) party rather than promoting knowledge and helping the country in nation-building.

In the interest of maintaining high standards in local universities, anthropologist Dr Lye Tuck Po of USM’s School of Social Sciences said students should be treated as adults, so-called “kangkong professors” be removed, and professors who do not do anything after two years of promotion be considered for demotion. – May 21, 2018.