Six students sue Albukhary International University for closure

Six students of the Albukhary International University (AiU) filed a suit against the university at the Alor Setar High Court following the closure of the higher learning institution, which they claimed was not made in accordance with procedures under the Private Higher Education Institutions Act. The suit was filed against AIU, Private Higher Education Institutions Chief Registrar, Ministry of Education and the Malaysian Government. The six students 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 The first and third year students claimed that they have not received any official letter regarding the closure of the university. They also accused that the university management has failed to give the one year notice prior to the closure as defined under the Act. "In that period, it can give space to the students to plan what to do. But in this case there was no written notice issued, instead they just informed verbally last February that AiU will be closed starting this June," lawyer Fatima Mohd Idros who is representing the six student, told Bernama. Fatimah said AiU’s actions had affected the students minds, performance and future. The lawyer said the suit represented the interests of all AiU students, including the foreign students. AiU is a university with an endowment concept established by Albukhary Foundation and founded by prominent businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary. The Second Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh on Monday said the Ministry of Education is working with the university management following the plans to shut down its operations. He said the discussion is to identify why AiU wants to stop the operation. He explained, if the plan is continued, the ministry will seek ways to help the AiU staffs and students by placing them in other institutions. Idris also confirmed that the ministry received a letter from AiU informing its shut down.