KUALA LUMPUR – Some 23 student unions and groups are demanding the abolishment of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Auku), which restricts participation in political activities, among others.
In a memorandum handed to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad, the groups are also pushing for the government to guarantee political freedom of students in and out of campus.
They added that this goes against Undi18, the federal constitution and Auku, which was amended in December 2018 to allow students to be involved in politics.
Their views were also made known during an August 15 town hall, where a draft on regulations of political activities in and out of campus was introduced.
“We strongly oppose ‘illogical’ suggestions in the draft that restricts political freedom of the students. For example, students are not allowed to hold peaceful political activities offline or online without the university’s expressed approval.
“Students are also not allowed to set up offshoots of political parties, which could bring about the practice of double standards,” it said in a statement yesterday.
The groups said this is moot as some political groups already exist on campus, such as UmnoSiswa, while definitions of ‘political activities’ and ‘branches and offshoots of a political party are vague.
“Seeing that students are voters, the Higher Education Ministry should put efforts into political literacy and youth empowerment, instead of restricting student autonomy.
“In addition, the National Council of Higher Education Act 1996 prohibits students from becoming members of political groups and parties. To make it worse, students in public universities are warned against showing sympathy or support for any association, organisation or political party.”
Student unions involved in the memorandum are from Universiti Malaya, International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Earlier, The Vibes reported that the initial Auku has had lasting damage, especially for students wanting to nurture political consciousness among their peers, and that the amendments do not necessarily protect students from retaliatory actions by university management.
With the implementation of Undi18 – voting age lowered to 18 – and automatic voter registration, it is expected some 5.8 million new voters will be added to the current electoral roll of 15.3 million.
Out of these, 1.2 million are those aged between 18 and 21, while the rest are unregistered 21 years old and above. – The Vibes, August 26, 2022
