KUALA LUMPUR: The five public universities chairmen who had their service terminated by the Education Ministry were political appointees of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the removal of the five was made to replace the high-ranking officials who cannot spur change alongside with the new government.
He said the move was to ensure the reformation process of institutions by Pakatan Harapan (PH) will not be disrupted.
“This is not about removing people, but replacing them with new faces that have fresh ideas.
“Not only at public universities, but changes also have taken place at GLCs. We are making changes,” he said when met at the Parliament lobby today.
Maszlee was responding to reports by a portal on the termination of five public universities chairmen.
It was reported that among those affected were Tun Zaki Azmi from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Tan Sri Sufri Mohd Zin from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Datuk Dr Kamaruddin Hussin from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Tan Sri Noorul Ainur Mohd Noor from Universiti Sains Malaysia and Tan Sri Anuwar Ali from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Their termination letters were issued on July 23 and were signed by Maszlee.
The portal also claimed that another three chairmen from three other public universities also will be terminated soon.
Maszlee however refused to reveal the exact number of public universities chairmen who will be terminated.