PUTRAJAYA: The Higher Education Ministry hopes to table amendments to the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 for first reading in Parliament by year end.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, said the amendments are expected to be presented to the Attorney-General's Chambers by June.
"We are identifying the sections and fine-tuning the terminology before the Act (AUKU) is presented to the A-GC," he said during a press conference at his ministry's headquarters here, today.
Khaled said the amendment would involve revisions to Section 15 and 16 of AUKU, to allow university students to participate freely in activities involving societies or associations on campus.
"I will try this year (to table the amendments). We must get approval from the A-GC before we can present it to the Cabinet.
"And before presenting (the draft) to the Cabinet, we must gather input from other ministries," he said
Earlier, Khaled attended a town hall on AUKU with university students at Dewan Za'aba.
Matters raised by the students included not being able to take part in association matters freely as they must first get university approval.
Once approved, the students were faced with financial issues to proceed with their activities.
Khaled said the ministry was finalising the clauses dealing with undergraduates managing their associations with responsibility.
"This involves how they can hold their activities successfully and also about them having the opportunity in managing and being responsible over their (bank) accounts (which belong to the associations)," he said.
