While independent scholar Sharifah Munirah Alatas praised the formation of a secretariat by students against the Act, she said they still needed solidarity with university staff and civil society organisations to enact meaningful change.

She questioned the lack of coordination between academics and students, and urged them to see that both their causes – to reform higher education and to abolish Auku – were “intricately linked”.

“A fragmented approach will not impress the politicians and decision-makers in our civil service. It will be dismissed, giving them opportunities to endlessly criticise dissent, suppress and bully reform groups.

“Without a long-term plan to change the system we have all called oppressive, intimidating and restrictive for scholars and students, all the noise will amount to nothing. This has been the trajectory for decades now,” she said in a Facebook post today.

She suggested, as a start, that university staff and students jointly organise a national-level conference or seminar to build public support and crowdfund their campaign.

Earlier today, more than 30 student groups gathered at Taman Tugu before marching to Parliament to hand over a memorandum opposing Auku.

Deputy higher education minister Adam Adli, who accepted the memorandum, promised to take the “necessary, appropriate and required” steps, and pledged to provide a larger platform to engage with students.

Auku, which falls partly under the legislative authority of the higher education ministry, governs the establishment, maintenance and administration of universities and public university colleges.

In 1975, it was amended to give the government full control over universities, particularly in the appointment of vice-chancellors tasked with appointing the deans, deputy deans and heads of institutes, replacing democratic elections among academics.

At a press conference last Friday announcing the Abolish Auku secretariat, Umany president Tang Yi Ze said Auku restricted students’ freedoms, granted excessive power to the higher education minister and left universities under political control.

Munirah also previously criticised Auku for suppressing university autonomy and academic freedom, perpetuating a culture in which many academic staff and university administrators were reluctant to reform outdated procedures.

Last week, the higher education ministry said it had no plans to abolish Auku in its entirety, but noted that the law had been amended eight times over the years.