KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — The Student Representative Council and Student Union (MPP/KM) should be involved in the process of drafting and drawing up guidelines for entertainment activities (concerts) at higher learning institutions (IPT).

The Department of Higher Education (JPT) in a statement said directives to all IPT managements, under the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) were made to ensure that the voice and needs of students, as well as the locality of and suitability of each IPT are taken into account before they are officially adopted at the respective IPT level.

According to the JPT, these instructions were in line with Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin’s recent announcement that guidelines for conducting entertainment activities at IPTs should be drawn up and prepared by IPTs through the involvement of the MPP/KM.

"The space and opportunity is given to students as an element of student empowerment as the main stakeholders, thus complying with the steps of the student empowerment agenda that is being raised by the Higher Education Minister,” said the statement.

Earlier, there were reports on social media about the guidelines for entertainment activities (concerts) at IPTs, which among other things stated that the audience should be segregated according to male and female gender, in addition to introducing a dress code and prohibiting clothing displaying the illuminati logo, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT).

In this matter, JPT emphasised that it is still at the recommendation stage in reference to IPTs in developing their respective guidelines. — Bernama