A coalition of 18 NGOs today stressed the importance of academic freedom, in light of the 'forced' resignation of a Universiti Malaya faculty dean, Professor Mohd Redzuan Othman.

Muslim Youth of Malaysia (Abim) president Amidi Abdul Manan ( left ) said that violation of academic freedom has long been a 'cancer' in the country.

"Acts introduced by the government have denied academic freedom among lecturers, students as well as university staff," Amidi told a press conference at the Abim headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

"We denounce the silencing of the voice of academicians. The resignation of Redzuan is a tragedy in the country's academia."

He added that the incident showed how the Education Ministry failed to defend the most fundamental principle, which is the preservation of knowledge and truth.

Redzuan resigned as head of the Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) which he founded, following alleged pressure from the ministry.

Some of Umcedel's findings on general elections and by-elections, did not favour the ruling BN government.

Campaign launched in support of Redzuan

As such, Amidi said, the coalition has launched a campaign for academic freedom through Facebook as well as Twitter, named Solidarity 4 Prof Redzuan and #academicfreedom4malaysia respectively.

"The campaign will be continuous as it is not for Redzuan alone but for academic freedom in general."

The coalition will also be sending a memorandum on the matter to the Education Ministry, at 11am tomorrow.

Amidi then called on all educators to state their stand on the matter and to express their support for the movement.

"How can we have students with a broad knowledge about current affairs if those things are not allowed to be said freely to students?

"This is one of the reasons why students cannot compete internationally," Amidi added.

Former Federal Territory Education Department director Abas Awang said based on the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment, one of the weaknesses of Malaysian students was that they cannot think creatively.

"It is the Education Ministry that is hampering creative thinking," Abas said.

Meanwhile, Gerakan Mansuhkan PPSMI secretary Hasni Abas ( right ) said the country's ranking in education was far behind because "there is no democracy in education and academia".

"We build buildings, but we destroy human development," Hasni said.

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