KUALA LUMPUR – The Higher Education Ministry appears to have backtracked on its new ‘Guidelines for Entertainment Activities (Concerts) in Higher Education Institutions’ as it has decided to hand over the reins to the students and management of such institutes.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin also claimed that he was not consulted on the guidelines, which incited the ire of student bodies earlier today.
“The JPT (Higher Education Department) has not presented (recommendations on the guidelines) to me. I don’t know how it (document on the guidelines) could have gone viral.
“If I had agreed to it (proposed guidelines), then it would have been approved. If I don’t agree with it, it wouldn’t have been approved. I haven’t seen it, so let me look at it first,” Khaled was quoted as saying by Bernama, at an event in Johor today.
He added that the ministry’s current focus is to empower students so that the nation creates quality graduates.
“I’d prefer to let them (students) determine for themselves the guidelines, so there won’t be guidelines like the one that went viral.”
The University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) and the Rahman Student League had earlier called for the ministry to retract the guidelines and to restore student autonomy.
While Umany had threatened to initiate a judicial review challenging the constitutionality of the guidelines, the Rahman Student League said the new restrictions are “completely out of touch with the progressive values of modern society.” – September 1, 2023