PSM deputy chairman S Arutchelvam said the protest was against the management of an aeronautics training centre for sacking two unionist students.
However lawyers for the academy, Allied Aeronautics Training Centre, said the two students were expelled because they had failed to pay tuition fees after two years and had organised an “illlegal student union”.
The lawyers said AATC was not a university or college under the purview of the Education Ministry, but a training academy certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. Students were thus not eligible for government loans and were not allowed to organise a student union under college rules.
Arutchelvam said the two unionist students had been sacked for writing a letter against the college for allegedly not keeping to its word about student loans. “The students had been told the college came under the human resources ministry and they could apply for PTPTN loans,” he told FMT, referring to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation.
However, he said the PTPTN loans were rejected and the students were told to apply for personal loans instead. “They objected to it as the interest rate for personal loans is 8% per annum,” he said.
Arutchelvam claimed that the college authorities declined to negotiate with the group and called the police.
“They are at the Kelana Jaya police station. We want the police to release them as they should not be detained for expressing their views,” he said. He also called for the release of PSM activist Sharan Raj, who is an adviser to the college’s students union.
Arutchelvam said about 90 students took part in the protest, which started at 3pm. Late this evening an officer of Kelana Jaya police station said statements were being taken from the students. “We are not sure if they will be detained for the night,” he told FMT.
Lawyers for AATC say it is not a college but a private training centre
The statement by Allied Aeronautics Training Centre said the protest was held after two students were dismissed for failing to pay their tuition fees despite being given more than two years.
The academy’s lawyers, Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal, said that the students were unable to clear their dues and had refused to commit to any student loan and financial assistance provided for by AATC.
“They were also unable to arrange any independent financial assistance by themselves,” the lawyers said.
The students had also set up an “illegal student union” and organised a protest for failing to provide assistance in obtaining loans, particularly government loans.
The statement said government loans were no longer available to students of AATC as it was a training centre and not a university or college that fell under the purview of the Education Ministry and Malaysian Qualifications Agency.
The lawyers said AATC is a privately-run training centre and is certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. The students were thus bound by the in-house rules and could not unionise or create a student body without AATC’s prior approval, the statement said.