Oct 26, 07 6:49pm
Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamad needs to do more than amend just the freedom of speech portion of the University and University College Act (UUCA), a student group said today.
The Youth and Democratic Student Movement (Dema) said the amendment of the Act should also look into matters concerning student’s freedom of association, reform campus, academic freedom, campus elections and others.
“(We) feel that the Higher Education Ministry should be more transparent in making and announcing any decisions (about the amendments) so that the public (has access to that) information.
“This will provide an opportunity to the university students to join in the debate and participative democracy can be practiced,” the group said in a statement.
However, the youth group said they are doubtful whether any of these amendments will be carried based on the ministry’s poor track record in the past.
According to them, various ministers - including former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim - had mentioned amendments but nothing resulted from that.
“In January 1994, then Education Minister Dr Sulaiman Haji Daud promised that UUCA will be reviewed and announced that a committee was formed for this purpose but there was no follow-up on it,” the statement read.
No reply from ministry
Dema also pointed out that former Higher Education Minister Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said a committee consisting of non-government organization, public universities, private higher learning institutions, lawyers and representatives from related fields would review the Act.
“But the representatives from opposition parties are excluded and the ministry didn't state the time line for the review of the Act and that it was up to the decision of the committee,” they said.
As for the current ministry led by Mustapa, Dema said the minister had delayed the UUCA amendent bill in several parliamentary sessions including the September and November sessions last year as well as the March and September sessions this year.
Dema also noted that Mustapa’s ministry has not replied to letters sent by them and another student group Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) since the cabinet shuffle on Feb 14 last year.
“Dema remains doubtful towards the top-down policy of the Higher Education Ministry and our stand is that the UUCA should be abolished and replaced with a new university act.
“The Act should protect our basic rights, and use the bottom-up legal base, which is drafted by students and proposed to Higher Education Ministry,” the statement read.
UUCA is one of the laws that have been used to curb student activism since 1971 with freedom of expression and freedom of association disallowed in public universities.
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