15/08/2026
UMANY STATEMENT : Abolish UUCA Is A Victory for Students
UMANY: Welcome with Caution, Continued Scrutiny Is Essential
UMANY takes a cautious view of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that the government will repeal the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA).
Nevertheless, for Malaysia’s student movement, this is undoubtedly a historic development. More importantly, it represents a significant victory achieved through the persistent struggle of generations of student movement leaders who have continued to advance the principle of “Campus Democracy, Student Autonomy.”
For more than half a century, UUCA has been regarded by the student movement as one of the key institutional restraints on campus democracy, student self-governance and academic freedom. Although successive governments, including the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, have amended its provisions on several occasions, the institutional restrictions faced by students, administrative interference by university authorities and the deeply entrenched conservative culture within campuses have never completely disappeared merely as a result of legislative amendments.
In response to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s stated intention to repeal UUCA, we emphasise that this is the result of years of accumulated struggle by the student movement, and not a gift or favour unilaterally granted to students by any government.
UMANY urges the government to immediately announce a clear timeline for the repeal of UUCA, outline the legislative process involved and present a comprehensive framework to replace the existing system.
The government must also ensure that student organisations, academics, university staff and civil society are given meaningful opportunities to participate throughout the process, rather than allowing the future of students and universities to be decided behind closed doors by the bureaucracy.
We remind the government that during previous amendments to UUCA, the government had claimed that greater financial autonomy would be granted to student organisations, including Student Representative Councils.
However, to this day, the implementation of these reforms remains uneven across universities. Some student organisations continue to face cumbersome administrative procedures and restrictions imposed by university power structures in areas such as financial management, fundraising and approval of activities.
In June 2026, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) also initiated disciplinary investigations against two students who participated in a solidarity action supporting protesting villagers, pursuant to the Universities and University Colleges (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) (Discipline of Students) Rules 2024.
UMANY stresses that the passage of reforms in Parliament does not mean that those reforms will automatically be implemented on university campuses.
Conservative forces, bureaucracy and administrative inertia that have long existed within the university system may delay, narrow or even hollow out reforms that are progressive in principle during the implementation process.
If the government merely removes the name “UUCA” while allowing the same culture of control, power structures and administrative mechanisms that restrict students to continue in other forms, then the so-called “repeal of UUCA” will ultimately remain nothing more than reform on paper.
UMANY calls on all institutions of higher learning nationwide to respond to the government’s reform direction by immediately reviewing and withdrawing all disciplinary actions, investigations and other measures taken against students for expressing their views, participating in peaceful assemblies, organising activities, engaging in public issues or exercising their fundamental rights as citizens.
Since the government itself has acknowledged that the existing legal framework needs to be abolished, university administrations should no longer continue to treat students through the same outdated culture of control.
At the same time, we call upon student organisations, student movements, civil society groups and all social forces that have long advocated for higher education reform to welcome this announcement while continuing to maintain their independence and scrutinise the government.
The goal of the student movement has never been merely to repeal a single law. It is to establish a higher education system that genuinely respects student rights, university autonomy and academic freedom.
UMANY was also previously a member of the Committee to Abolish UUCA. The position we advocated at the time was never simply to remove UUCA from the statute books.
Rather, we called for UUCA to be replaced by a new Higher Education Act founded upon the values of freedom, one that would redefine the relationship between the state, universities and students, and ultimately realise the true principle of “Campus Autonomy, Student Democracy.”
