TAHFIZ SCHOOL STILL OPEN
Centre is not registered, says Mujahid
THE tahfiz school at the centre of controversy after allegations surfaced that its headmaster had sexually assaulted several students is still open, even though it has been confirmed that it is not registered.
All three teachers of the school, however, were no longer there.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said many of the school’s students, including several who had claimed to have been sexually assaulted, were being sent there.
He urged the parents of those children to take them home.
“I have found that this school did not get approval from the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) as the operator had failed to present a safety report from the Fire and Rescue Department and City Hall,” he said after a surprise visit to the school.
In a closed-door session, he met with the alleged victims and the school management, including the wife of the headmaster.
The headmaster had been charged with sexually assaulting and sodomising nine teenage students over the past few months.
Mujahid said the students’ parents seemed to not care about what had happened considering they were still sending them to the school.
As such, he said, Jawi would hold discussions with all the parents.
The goal of the discussions would be to provide lists of schools where the parents could send their children.
It is understood that the school’s three teachers were the ones who initially reported the headmaster’s sexual assaults on the students.
“The three teachers have since left the school, so the students are just left to their own devices when they are sent there,” said Mujahid.
On whether the school would be shut down, he said this was outside the ministry’s jurisdiction, adding that it was in the hands of City Hall and the Fire and Rescue Department.
Mujahid urged tahfiz centres to register with the ministry so that their operations could be monitored.
On the number of tahfiz schools found to have not been registered with the ministry, he said there were many, likening them to mushrooms sprouting after a rainstorm.