PKR slammed the amendments to the UUCA tabled in Parliament today, saying these will make student participation in politics even more restrictive.

NONE“The amendments are superficial, ineffective, restrictive and intended to maintain Umno-BN's iron grip on students and  universities,” said party vice-president N Surendran (left).

He noted that while the amendments permitted students to take up membership in political parties, they come with a caveat restricting them from taking part in campus elections and holding posts in student bodies.

“Neither can students (who become members of political parties) carry on political activity in university campuses,” Surendran said in a statement today.

“These unnecessary and oppressive restrictions render meaningless the right of students to become members of political parties.

He said the restrictions also breached Article 10 of the federal constitution and were thus unlawful and unconstitutional.

“It is clear now that the government never had the intention to give more freedom to students and universities despite Najib's promises of reform,” he added.

Three Bills tabled in Parliament today for the first reading are: the UUCA (Amendment) Act 2012, the Private Higher Educational Institutions (Amendment) Act 2012 and the Educational Institutions (Discipline) (Amendment) Act 2012.

Surendran also criticised the UUCA itself, calling on the prime minister to repeal the law in its entirety.

The government controls the appointment of vice-chancellors, members of univerity boards of directors and senates under the UUCA, he said.

He also singled out section 4 of the UUCA, which “allows the minister to intervene directly into the affairs of the universities”.

These restrictions have contributed to the decline of the country’s local universities, he claimed.

“This allows the BN to maintain a stranglehold on both the administration and academic content of our universities. This has prevented original thinking, innovation and intellectual curiosity in our universities, and led to plummeting academic standards.”

The prime minister should withdraw the amendments to the UUCA and introduce a new Bill to completely repeal the law, Surendran said.

“Najib must understand that dishonest, fake and cosmetic reforms will not win him the support of the people,” he added.