The monitoring is done particularly through election monitoring committees, set up under a secretariat comprising deputy vice-chancellors in charge of student affairs.

For every by-election and general election, a committee is set up comprising representatives of the universities' student affairs departments.

Secretariat chairman Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Wahid Samsudin, who is also the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia deputy VC for student affairs and alumni, said students are prohibited from associating themselves with any political party, regardless of whether it was from the opposition or the Barisan Nasional.

"The Higher Education Ministry has instructed us to look at student activities to ensure they are not actively involved in political parties or activities," he told theSun.

"It is an offence as stated clearly under Section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971."

The section states that "no university student shall express support or do anything which may be construed as expressing support, sympathy or opposition to any political party".

On an exposure trip to Ijok last Sunday (April 22), Youth for Change (Y4C) participants were followed by people in cars bearing the logo of Jabatan Hal-Ehwal Pelajar (Student Affairs Department) from several local universities.

The trip was a non-partisan project by Y4C to help youths better understand how a by-election is run, and to find out what the local issues were through a house-to-house poll.

Some university officials photographed and video recorded the Y4C participants while they were speaking to residents and while they were at a coffee shop, without their consent.

Several student groups have called for the election monitoring committees to be dismantled, saying the universities' student affairs departments are being manipulated.

Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement secretary Lee Huat Seng said the department was responsible for students' welfare, not for election monitoring which is "a waste of money".

But Mohd Wahid said universities had to monitor students because there have been complaints about their active involvement during elections.

"We cannot only rely on what they say. We have to check for ourselves," he said.

"We don't want people to say we condone this (students' involvement in the elections). We are only carrying out our duty. It is not like we purposely want to make their life difficult, nor are we being harsh."

He said photographing students was part of the monitoring process.

"We set up groups to go to the ground and get information from the political parties there. At the same time, we also have to obtain proof for our records."

However, Mohd Wahid said not all those photographed would face disciplinary action, adding that if they were not guilty, they should not be afraid.

"We do take pictures of those attending a ceramah but it does not mean we penalise all those in the picture. We do not simply take action."

He said action was only taken against those who are actively involved, for example, in distributing fliers or vote-counting.

However, Mohd Wahid said that while attending a ceramah was not specifically an offence under the UUCA, it could be interpreted as supporting a party, and therefore, an offence.

If found guilty of involvement, students can be given show-cause letters, suspended or dismissed from the universities.

It is unclear when the committees were first set up. Mohd Wahid could only say it was first formed during one of the by-elections in Kedah.

Previous by-elections in Kedah were in Lunas (2000) and Pendang (2002). These were followed by the Kuala Berang by-election in Terengganu and Ba' Kelalan in Sarawak (2004), Pengkalan Pasir in Kelantan (2005), and Batu Talam (Pahang), Machap (Malacca) and Ijok this year.

An officer at the ministry's Public Universities Management Department, M. Dinagaran, said for the Ijok by-election, the committee is being chaired by Universiti Malaya Deputy VC for Student Affairs and Alumni Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Razali Agus.

For Machap, it was chaired by Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Malacca Dean of Student Affairs Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Nor Husain.