SHAH ALAM, Aug 17 - Abolishing the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU) alone will not guarantee greater academic freedom or university autonomy unless accompanied by comprehensive legal, governance, and institutional reforms, according to experts.
Universiti Putra Malaysia Educational Studies Faculty lecturer Prof Ismi Arif Ismail said the focus should instead be on establishing a modern legal and governance framework, in line with the Higher Education Development Plan 2026-2035, which proposes a One Higher Education Act (OHEA).
This is vital as Malaysia’s higher education system has evolved, with universities now expected to be globally competitive, research-intensive, digitally driven, and entrepreneurial, while maintaining stronger links with society and industry.
“Therefore, simply repealing AUKU without a credible replacement would create a legal and governance vacuum.
“Greater autonomy must also be accompanied by strong institutional capacity, including competent governing boards, professional management, sound financial controls, transparent procurement, effective internal audits, and mature academic governance.
“The answer is not to preserve excessive regulation because we fear institutional failure. The answer is to build institutions capable of exercising freedom responsibly,” he told Media Selangor.
Ismi added that genuine academic freedom depended on the wider institutional ecosystem, including university governance, Senate powers, protection for academics, transparent appointments, research independence, institutional culture, and dispute-resolution mechanisms.
University autonomy should cover academic programmes, research priorities, human resources, financial management, and institutional strategy, while remaining subject to transparent accountability.
For students, he said that reforms ought to recognise them as partners in the university ecosystem by providing space for intellectual engagement, representation, leadership development, and responsible civic participation.
Ismi strongly backed the OHEA as the central legislative framework, but noted that it should not simply become another version of AUKU under a different name.
Abolition must come with safeguards
When delivering his policy speech during the 2026 Keadilan National Congress on August 15, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government would repeal AUKU to provide greater freedom and wider democratic space for students in the country.
The proposal will be presented to the Cabinet on Wednesday (August 19), with the decision made following a memorandum and feedback from student leaders calling for comprehensive changes to the Act.
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said while she supported abolishing AUKU, particularly provisions restricting academic freedom, student expression, and university autonomy, it must be accompanied by a well-designed replacement framework.
She echoed Ismi’s sentiments, saying that the new framework should provide greater university autonomy while maintaining accountability and good governance.
“It could be a significant step forward, but only if the powers currently concentrated under AUKU are genuinely transferred to universities, academics, and students.
"Simply repealing the Act without changing the culture and governance structure of universities would not automatically create academic freedom,” Azimah said.
She similarly identified a legal and governance vacuum as the biggest risk, saying universities would still need clear rules covering financial management, discipline, student welfare, staff responsibilities, appointments, and institutional accountability.
Azimah favours a modern Higher Education Act based on university autonomy, academic freedom, and accountability, with clear powers for governing boards, protections for academic and student rights, transparent appointments and independent complaints, and disciplinary appeal mechanisms.
“The proposed OHEA is worth examining as a possible model,” she said.
