After ‘miscommunication’, GPA wants more transparency in UUCA abolition process
Student activists have called upon the public to pressure Pakatan Harapan to carry through with its promise to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) this year.
The Gerakan Pembebasan Akademik (GPA) representatives also urged the government to be more transparent about its plan to dismantle the controversial law.
Student activists have called upon the public to pressure Pakatan Harapan to carry through with its promise to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) this year.
The Gerakan Pembebasan Akademik (GPA) representatives also urged the government to be more transparent about its plan to dismantle the controversial law.
Led by chairperson Azura Nasron (photo), the group spoke to the media in Putrajaya this afternoon.
“We have 1.2 million higher education students in Malaysia and I call upon all students to support us in abolishing the UUCA.
“We know this government has made many U-turns. Many laws have yet to be abolished and many things have not been fixed.
“We do not want this to happen to the UUCA issue and to issues affecting students,” she said.
GPA is among student groups on an Education Ministry working committee set up to discuss how to abolish the UUCA and replace it with a new law - known for now as the Higher Education Act - before the end of 2020.
Formed in Dec 2018, the committee along with another technical committee has held several discussions on the matter since.
GPA member Wong Yan Ke hoped that the ministry would be able to routinely update the rakyat on these discussions before the Cabinet decides on the matter.
“We feel that the public is very unaware of the progress of the abolition of the UUCA. That is why we are urging the ministry to please publish all the meeting minutes to the public,” he said.
“We hope the public can also scrutinise the government and pressure the Cabinet to pass this white paper (to abolish the UUCA). The law has been there for decades and has suppressed student rights for many years,” Wong added.
No more miscommunication
GPA held the press conference after meeting with Department of Higher Education officials at the Education Ministry over how some of its members were recently unceremoniously booted out of the UUCA committee.
Azura said that the officials admitted their mistake during the meeting and have since reinstated them.
“We hope there won’t be any more miscommunication after this,” she added.
She also urged the ministry to issue GPA members official appointment letters to ensure that they have permanent spots on the committee.
According to Azura, the officials further told them that they plan to “revamp” the existing UUCA technical committee by opening up spaces to more “inclusive” views.
“They said we need to be more ‘inclusive’ but we have always been inclusive. We have remained firm in our principle that we want a law that is more transparent and that does not oppress students.
“Inclusivity alone is of no use if these voices only want to create a UUCA 2.0,” she cautioned.
The UUCA was amended in Dec 2018 to allow students to take part in activities organised by political parties whilst on campus. Maszlee Malik, the education minister at the time, had promised that the law would be dismantled and replaced in 2020.
He resigned from his post in January following advice from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the latter took over as the acting education minister.
Back in 1975, when Mahathir was the education minister, the UUCA was changed to ban all tertiary students from taking part in politics and protests, leading to what observers describe as a muffling of student politics.
