by Madhavi

Seven students of the Allied Aeronautics Training Centre (AATC) along with their Student Union adviser Sharan Raj were arrested on Monday evening. They were detained by the police in the Kelana Jaya Police Station.

It was made known that the AATC management has expelled two of the students earlier ; Yagesh and Joe Yee who are the AATC Student Union chairperson and secretary respectively. The college reacted after the Student Union sent an official letter to the management on the 22nd of August informing them of the formation of the Student Union and asserting their demands.

The AATC College initially promised all their students that they would receive PTPK loans to settle the education fees. However the management turned against their word and coerced the students to take up personal loans from Affin Bank to pay the dues instead.

On top of this, students faced many issues with the college management. For example some students are not allowed for practicum, there was no consultation with students on decision-making processes affecting them. Hence unhappy students decided to form a student’s Union.

Obviously the college felt threatened with the student power and expelled Yagesh and Joe Yee for the petty reason of failure to pay the college fee within the stipulated duration. This is an unreasonable action when the college itself failed to obtain the promised loans for the students.

The college management refused to discuss with the students and the police was called to disperse them. Around 100 students protested and 7 of them were arrested. Students along with activists have gathered outside the police station for solidarity.