MCA notes Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that the government will repeal the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Auku). Although Auku has been amended several times since its implementation, concerns over student autonomy, academic freedom and university autonomy have persisted. Now that the government has decided to move from amending the law to repealing it, this direction is at least worthy of recognition.
The Auku provides the legal framework for the establishment, maintenance and administration of universities and university colleges, as well as other matters connected therewith. Given its broad scope and importance to the governance of higher education institutions, any reform should be targeted and carefully considered.
The controversy surrounding Auku ultimately comes down to one fundamental question: how much freedom should universities and university students actually have? Announcing this repeal is one matter, how it is repealed and what comes after it is another. MCA therefore urges the government to provide clarity on several important concerns.
1) The timeline needs to be clear.
Repealing the Auku but to remain merely as a political announcement is unwise. It would be apt on the government to provide a clear timeline covering when the proposal will be tabled in Parliament, when debates and voting will take place, when Auku will officially be repealed, and when the new law will be drafted and come into force.
While the government has stated that the proposal will be presented to the Cabinet this Wednesday, updates on progress needs to be consistent and delivered in a timely manner. All Malaysians have the right to know how this reform will proceed.
2) Make the proposed Bill public, while giving university students a genuine opportunity to participate in its drafting.
The basic framework and key provisions of the new law ought to be made public as early as possible, with sufficient opportunity for discussion and feedback. Besides the government, officials and university management, it is necessary that the process also involves university students, student organisations, academics, university administrators, and education professionals.
University students are key stakeholders in university reform. It is particularly important that the decision to repeal Auku came after the government considered memoranda and views submitted by university students. That spirit of participation must continue when the new law is drafted, rather than leaving students outside the process while others decide what their freedom should look like.
3) Most fundamentally, it is incumbent on the government to answer whether universities will truly be given greater autonomy.
If, after Auku is repealed, the government continues to exercise firm control over the universities' administrative, human resource, academic and financial decisions, then repealing the old act is simply giving it a new name and will not actually realise true university autonomy.
True university autonomy would include meaningful academic, administrative and human resource autonomy, together with an appropriate degree of financial autonomy. Sufficient space needs to be dispensed to university management to make decisions based on academic and professional considerations, rather than having to seek government approval for every matter.
When academics have greater freedom to teach, conduct research and engage in discussion, while students being able to express their views, organise activities and participate in public affairs responsibly – these would genuinely reflect the intentions of Auku’s withdrawal.
Repealing this Act should mark the beginning of a broader rethinking of how Malaysia treats its universities, academics and students. Universities are not subordinate government departments, nor should students merely be recipients of decisions made for them. If the government truly believes in freedom, democracy and reform, it must give universities greater autonomy, students a stronger voice and academics greater space to question, challenge and pursue knowledge.
Simultaneously, for the long term without any substitute governance architecture, is inconsistent with sound rule-of-law practice and university autonomy. The best reform is to free universities from excessive political control while supporting them with new institutions that are transparent, rights-based, professionally autonomous and publicly accountable.
Only then can the repeal of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 become more than the abolition of a law that has existed for over half a century, but the beginning of a new chapter for Malaysian higher education.
DATUK DR MAH HANG SOON
MCA Deputy President
MCA Education Consultative Committee Chairman
