Education Minister Maszlee Malik has denied prohibiting Opposition MPs from entering the premises of government schools.

He said what he had actually stated in the Dewan Rakyat was that the Opposition elected representatives needed to follow the procedure in doing so.

"Don’t misquote me. It is not correct to say that I had used the word banned or prohibited. I never said that,” he told a news conference after launching the 'Life Saving Skills' programme and Safety and Rescue In Water Awareness module, in Kuala Lumpur, today.

Maszlee was reported to have said at the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday that Opposition MPs who wished to enter government school premises should first obtain the permission of the ministry through the respective state education department directors.

His statement drew criticism from various quarters including Pakatan Harapan elected representatives, among them, its Youth chief, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who urged that the Opposition elected reps be given due respect and not prevented from entering education institution premises.

Asked on an incident in which social activist Hishamuddin Rais claimed that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) had prevented him from giving a talk at a campus programme, Maszlee said it should not have happened.

The minister said he had issued a statement that each public university in this country “is an open intellectual space”.

"I have demanded UKM to make a clear clarification. I made a clear position that universities should be an open intellectual space.

"Two weeks after I became minister, I made a statement that any barrier to the universities should be lifted to allow forums and debates to take place," he added.

- Bernama