A HUMAN rights activist has mooted the abolishment of public higher learning institutions that are funded by Malaysian taxpayers but are not open to all Malaysians irrespective of ethnicity, religion or cultural background.

Lawyer Charles Hector further hit as “a serious inconsistency and a discriminatory practice that must end” the recent revelation by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir that a total of 5,571 international students have been accepted to study at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) from 2019 to 2023.

However, Zambry has quantified that UiTM only accepts international students for its postgraduate level courses.

“(It’s) shocking that UiTM has foreign student population of over 5,000 but bars entry of Malaysian students who are not Malay or natives of Sabah and Sarawak,” he pointed out in his latest blog.

“Rightly, it is an apartheid-like institution … its door must be open to all Malaysians and maybe shut to all foreign nationals.”

In a recent written parliamentary reply to Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis), Zambry who is also an UMNO supreme council member said UiTM accepted 1,634 international students in 2023, 1,873 (2022), 1,241 (2021), 547 (2020) and 276 (2019).

According to Zambry, the increase in UiTM’s international student enrolment shows that the tertiary institution is increasingly becoming a choice for international students which is in line with the university’s goal of becoming a globally renowned university by 2025.

Hector went on to justify that for the sake of unity and the Malaysian identity, any institution of learning involving children or young people that is exclusive for certain ethnic groups “has a high tendency to cultivate racism”.

“When the UITM student union came out protesting the entry of non-Malays and/or non-Sabah/Sarawak natives who are Malaysians into UITM, it was shocking where did these young people develop such racist beliefs,” observed Hector.

“Again, it was odd that their opposition was just to fellow Malaysians but not to foreign students?”

With unity as the bottom line, Hector called for an end to all public schools and institutions of higher learning that are exclusive for just certain ethnic groups.

“There can still be quota to ensure higher number of places for certain ethnic groups that but at least all institutions will be open to every Malaysian student,” he added. - July 21, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/shut-down-public-varsities-funded-by-malaysian-taxpayers-but-not-open-to-all-malaysians/