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Students sue Albukhary International University over closure notice

Students sue Albukhary International University over closure notice

Six Albukhary International University (AIU) students have filed a suit against the institution for failing to give a written notice of closure as required by the Private Institutions of Higher Learning Act.

The six are Mohd Raimy Fahmy Mohd Radzi, 22; Muhamad Hanif Ahmad Fauzi, 21; Hanif Hafifi Mahali, 21; Mohamad Hanif Kamaruddin, 21; Muhammad Syafiq Abd Shamad, 21, and Farhan Sani Safiyuddin, 20.

They named AIU interim vice-chancellor Professor Nor Adnan Yahaya, registrar Norpisah Mat Isa and the Malaysian government as defendants.

According to their lawyer Fatimah Idris, her clients are demanding for the university to adhere to the Act, which requires a one-year notice of closure.

“The one year would give the students time to make alternative plans. But in this case there was no written notice. They were just told verbally in February that the university will be closed down in June,” she told reporters after filing the suit at the High Court in Alor Star today.

Raimy said the university had failed to follow the law.

"Each student must be notified via registered mail, not verbally.

"We also demand that the university put everything in black and white, and not inform us verbally like it has been doing,” he said.

Raimy also said that many other students, who were unhappy with AIU over the transfers, may join them.

"Earlier, we were verbally told that a particular university in Kuala Lumpur will accept AIU students.

"Yesterday, we were given forms and asked to name which university we want to transfer to. Again, we were verbally given a list of some universities.

"The remaining students are in a limbo. They don't know what to do. Some are just taking things as they are, ready to go wherever they can," he said.

AIU, which is funded by tycoon and philanthropist Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, is on the verge of closing down, either temporarily or for good, after operating for four years.

A spokesperson at the university told The Malaysian Insider that the first batch of 230 students, out of a total of 600, were transferred to a university in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

The spokesperson said the closure is due to several factors, including student dissatisfaction with the programmes and management issues, but denied that financial woes were among of them.

Staff and students at the full-scholarship university have endured uncertainty over the past few months with speculation that the university was going to cease operations because of financial problems and would be sold.

It was reported in February this year that the academic staff had been informed that the campus may be closed and they should start looking for new jobs.

The university has also stopped taking in new students, with the admission page on its website “closed for maintenance”. – April 15, 2014