Vice-chancellor appointments still minister's prerogative: Khaled

PARLIAMENT | The minister in charge still has the power to make appointments of vice-chancellors in public universities in accordance with the University and Universities Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA).

Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin explained that a minister's duty to oversee higher education remains necessary, especially since the government has no plans to abolish the UUCA.

“The existing practice will continue as before; the appointment is done by the minister according to the procedure and provisions of the act,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.

Khaled was responding to Muhammad Islahuddin Abas (Perikatan Nasional-Mersing) during the minister’s question time who asked if the government would consider giving autonomy to the universities to vote for their vice-chancellors.

Sections 4, 4A, 4B, and 4C give the minister the power to appoint key personnel in public universities, including the committee advising the minister and the director-general of higher education.

Section 8 mandates that the constitutions of public universities must comply with the First Schedule, which grants the minister the discretion to appoint the board of directors, vice-chancellor, and deputy vice-chancellor.

Freedom of political participation

Islahuddin further asked if the UUCA had been amended to allow students the freedom to form or join political parties, especially within the university grounds, as a means of promoting democratic values and fostering mature politics consistent with educational reforms.

“We have made various amendments to the UUCA that involve the issue of student activities, so students are free to join any political party, whether on or off campus. They are also allowed to run for an election,” Khaled responded.

Additionally, Dr Kelvin Yii (Pakatan Harapan-Bandar Kuching) asked if the amendments will provide students more freedom, to which Khaled replied that generally, any issue with the UUCA can be considered for revision.

One potential change under the ministry’s consideration is modifying the rule on students handling their own financial accounts, the minister said.

Last week, Khaled stated the abolishment of the UUCA, as per Harapan's GE15 pledge, would not be fulfilled.

He said that it would require further studies as it involves other laws such as the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act 1996 and Education Act 1996.

Nonetheless, the government was open to improving the UUCA and was constantly engaging stakeholders, he added.

This garnered calls from Harapan MPs to consider the act's abolishment. Its youth wing and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abdul Halim said they will meet with Khaled in the near future to discuss the issue.

In its GE15 manifesto, Harapan pledged to repeal the UUCA for universities and higher education institutions to have more autonomy.

However, the government is a coalition that includes BN, which has been a proponent of the UUCA in the past. - Mkini