Be firm on school safety

IT is with great sadness that 21 young pupils and two teachers died in an early morning blaze at a tahfiz school in Kuala Lumpur.

The tragic news even got the global attention of CNN and BBC World News.

The incident should be a wakeup call for all of us, especially the local authorities.

The safety rules and regulations for any school, private and public, are very clear.

The local authorities — the city council, municipal council, Fire and Rescue Department, Education Ministry, etc — have clear and specific guidelines as to the safety standards for such an establishment.

Yet, tahfiz schools and perhaps many others are allowed to operate without the relevant approvals such as having a valid fire certificate.

The Fire and Rescue Department reported that some 211 fires have occurred at tahfiz schools nationwide between 2015 and this year. This simply means that tahfiz schools have been allowed to operate without the necessary approvals from the authorities. This has to stop.

The government needs to establish a body to ensure the tahfiz schools are registered, carry out safety checks and audits before providing them a licence to operate.

Let us get serious as far as safety is concerned.

Human lives matter.