Two days ago, a source told FMT that the government was studying a merger of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), with the decision to be announced soon.

UMT’s student body said today they were disappointed that they had been excluded from the discussions despite being a recognised outfit.

“We were quite shocked as it is said that the decision to merge the universities stemmed from wanting to reduce expenditure,” said executive committee members Mohammad Zulhafizuddin Zulkifli and Mohamad Zulkarnain Mohd Dali.

“Is it true that merging UMT and UniSZA was the only proposal the education ministry could come up with to save costs?”

On Thursday, a source said the top management of the two universities had been informed of this initiative by the education director-general recently. “Expenditure is high, especially when it comes to the salaries of the top management, including vice-chancellors, registrars and treasurers.”

Talk of the possible merger has been making the rounds around the two campuses.

UMT’s student body, however, pointed out that the two institutions had different systems and wondered which one would prevail should a merger take place.

They also wanted to know what impact it would have on the students and the two universities as a whole. “There are many questions which need to be answered by the relevant parties,” they said.

FMT is trying to get the education ministry’s response.

The student body called for a dialogue to be held with students bodies about the government’s long term plans for students before a decision is taken on the merger.