Cuepacs urges government to review proposed UMT-UniSZA merger

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 -- The Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the government, and in particular the Education Ministry, to review the proposed merger of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA).

Its president Datuk Azih Muda said the two universities in Terengganu had different objectives, while the merger would further reduce the number of universities in the country.

"Everyone knows that UniSZA is more religious-oriented, although today it has branched out to other subjects such as medicine and technology, while UMT was originally a subsidiary of Universiti Putra Malaysia to study maritime and marine life.

"So, because of these two different goals, they (universities) cannot coexist," he said at a press conference after meeting with representatives from university unions including UMT and UniSZA at Wisma Cuepacs, here, today.

According to Azih, even staff and students of both universities strongly opposed the merger proposal.

Earlier, the Higher Education Director-General’s Office in a statement said that the government had agreed in principle with the proposed merger of UMT and UniSZA, during a Cabinet meeting on Sept 4.

A special committee is being formed with representatives from both universities including administrators, lecturers, students as well as other stakeholders to facilitate the merger, which is expected to take six months.

-- BERNAMA