THE DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) has called on the Higher Education Ministry to repeal the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to promote campus democracy and push forward institutional higher education reforms.
The move to re-launch the plan to abolish the UUCA that has been shelved for years would pave way for restoration of student autonomy and campus democracy, including implementing democratic processes in electing vice chancellors, the board of directors and faculty deans.
“Although empowering the Student Unions and student organisations is important, there are foreseeable risks whereby university top management could eventually become subservient to politicians if they are still not elected democratically,” DAPSY National Varsity Affairs Bureau director Ho Chi Yang pointed out in a statement.
“In the end, university management could once again be turned into political tools to suppress academics and students, and university reforms would go down the drain.”
Ever since the then Barisan Nasional (BN) regime implemented the UUCA in 1971, numerous students and even academics who dared speak up and questioned the authority had been punished.
As a result, the decades of fear instilled by the draconian law severely impacted the quality of Malaysian higher education, according to Ho who is also the Tanah Rata state assemblyman.
“Trembling with fear of being taken action or even fired, many academics and lecturers have no choice but to shy away from commenting or researching the flaws of government policies and sensitive social and economic issues,” he observed.
“As the culture of fear loomed over universities, the quality of our higher education gradually deteriorated, rendering us inferior compared with many other countries in the region that are on the rise.”
Ho further argued that the absolute power granted by the UUCA to suppress academics and students’ ability to think critically, to allow the minister to select vice chancellors, and to trample on student autonomy is clearly not in line with the urgency to transform Malaysian higher education to meet the challenges of the new times.
“As such, the Government has to abolish the UUCA and introduce new laws that guarantee democracy, autonomy, and freedom to speak and think in order to truly push forward higher education reforms,” asserted Ho.
“Campus democracy” and “student autonomy” are two inter-connected and intertwined elements that will ultimately determine the future of our higher education, he added.
“By protecting universities against unnecessary political interference, we can institutionally promote student autonomy and provide a safe space for the university management, academics, and varsity students to utilise their knowledge to offer constructive criticism on government policies – all of which are crucial to truly usher in societal and national development.” – Feb 7, 2023
