A student group has called for a parliamentary select committee to be set up to study whether the provisions under the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) are compatible with the Federal Constitution.

“A parliamentary select committee comprising Members of Parliament from both sides of the divide must be immediately formed to consider the compatibility of (UUCA) with the Federal Constitution and review the current national policy on higher education.

“In doing do, opinions from both students and academicians must be properly considered,” the Malaysia Youth and Students' Democratic Movement (Dema) said in a statement today.

This follows disciplinary proceedings taken by Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s Labuan campus (Umskal) against two of its students.

One of the students, Jamhuri Mohamad ( right ), was accused of tarnishing the university’s reputation by writing an article in Harakah Daily in February, which criticised the UUCA as a draconian law that universities, including Umskal, use against students.

Jamhuri also criticised the university’s move to retake a shoplot on campus from which Umskal students had been running a business.

The other student, Muhammad Fadhil Abdul Ghani, was summoned before a disciplinary hearing today for organising an assembly on campus without the vice-chancellor’s approval.

Kulai MP backs the call

Dema urged the Ministry of Education to declare its stance on freedom of expression, association and assembly for students, and for Umskal to withdraw its charges against the students.

“The students are no longer schoolchildren. We expect the professionalism to be practised within the university's administration,” it said.

Meanwhile, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching said Umskal should explain why is it retaking the management of the shop instead of cracking down on the students, noting that Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees the freedom of expression to all.

“The administration of the university is also subject to public scrutiny. Instead of hunting down the students, what the university should do is explain to the public why it decided to take back management of a student-run shop on campus, which the student group has been operating for six years.

“Educational institutions should be managed in a democratic manner, not by tyrannous control!” Teoh said in a statement today.

She also echoed Dema’s call to drop the charges against the Umskal students and to to form a parliamentary select committee on the UUCA.