MELAKA: There will be no new laws to replace the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Auku) that will restrict student freedom, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“There is a concern that it would be abolished only for a new law to be introduced that is equally restrictive and oppressive.
“I will not allow any regulation or law to restrict students in that way. Auku must be abolished completely,” he said.
Anwar recalled that the law was first introduced to restrict him when he was a student activist.
“I looked back at when the first provision, the initial law concerning restrictions on students, was introduced around 1974.
“The then prime minister and education minister introduced this law to restrict student freedom because the student leader who was active at the time was Anwar Ibrahim.
“The history of Auku is quite interesting. The law was introduced to curb Anwar’s freedom,” he said at the PKR National Congress.
Anwar said he had also proposed several amendments to the law when he was deputy prime minister.
He said laws are in place to deal with anyone committing crime, including students who commit assault, cause injury, or cheat in an examination.
“I am not suggesting that we should relax those laws. But as for a special law governing students, such as Auku, I do not agree to any amendment or replacement Act that restricts or curbs the rights and freedoms of our students,” he said.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement to abolish Auku, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said a more comprehensive framework has been identified to replace the law.
Zambry had said the ministry had already considered renewing the country’s higher education legislative framework by drafting a new Act to replace Auku.
