KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Aug 2008: Some 100 students from public institutions of higher learning staged a peaceful protest at the entrance of Parliament building, calling for the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU) to be abolished.
Clad in black, the students who called themselves the Student Movement for the Abolishment of AUKU (GMMA) walked towards the Parliament entrance at 9.15am,
carrying placards that read "GMMA Bantah Pindaan Kosmetik AUKU" (GMMA Protest the Cosmetic Amendment to AUKU) and "Down With Institution, Down With AUKU".
GMMA coordinator Ridzuan Muhamad said the proposed amendment to AUKU was to appease certain groups and would not benefit the students.
The protest ended one hour later after Ridzuan presented a memorandum
calling for AUKU’s abolishment to Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris
Haron in the Parliament compound.
Idris said the amendment to AUKU would be comprehensively debated by
Members of Parliament soon.
"Claims that AUKU is restrictive and so on will be comprehensively debated by Members of Parliament who will consider the views of students".
"We are confident it will be the best solution to create human capital of high quality," he said. – Bernama
