The nationwide tour will target private and public universities, including Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Utara Malaysia, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
In a statement, the secretariat said the “Jelajah Mansuh Auku” campaign was launched in response to a rising trend of university administrations stifling students’ voices and criticisms.
It also said the development raised serious concerns about the decline of academic freedom and the erosion of students’ role as a check and balance in higher education institutions.
“This campaign is aimed at gathering the students’ voices, as well as creating awareness about their rights, roles, and importance of student autonomy in higher educational institutions,” the group said in a statement.
The secretariat also cited incidents such as legal action and “institutional controls” taken by universities against student groups on the pretext of protecting the university’s image, graft cases in higher educational institutions, and sanctions against students’ discussion programmes on campus grounds.
It said attempts to muzzle students and the existence of graft cases involving universities were “connected” with Auku.
“When students are being intimidated using disciplinary action under Auku, the culture of checks and balances weakens. In this situation, the space for misconduct and abuse of power widens without effective oversight,” said the secretariat.
The secretariat called for the abolishment of the Act and an end to action against outspoken students, as well as the involvement of student groups in laws related to higher educational institutions.
Auku was last amended in 2025 to grant student associations greater autonomy over fundraising and other activities. The higher education ministry previously said it had no plans to abolish the law entirely.
The ministry’s stance prompted 40 students representing more than 30 student groups to march to Parliament on Feb 9 to demand its full repeal. DAP’s youth wing meanwhile called on the ministry to revive the 2019 committee tasked with abolishing Auku, saying that simply reviewing the Act was insufficient.