Govt ensures greater care for elderly — Zahid

PUTRAJAYA: The government is to monitor to ensure that aid for the elderly covers the care of senior citizens and incentives for the guardians of senior citizens, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

This was decided at a meeting of the National Social Council yesterday as Malaysia would have to face an aging population by 2030, he said in a statement after chairing the meeting at the Perdana Putra building here.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said the National Social Council also agreed that the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry do a profiling or compile data on senior citizens for the provision of senior citizens’ needs.

“The government welcomes and supports the provision of social infrastructure facilities for senior citizens by the states and local authorities,” he said in the statement.

On addressing the cases of bullying in schools, Ahmad Zahid said the National Social Council agreed on the need for the classification of data to meet the definition of bullying.

He also said that the meeting decided that the social agenda should be discussed at the level of the state and district action committees.

“The use of the social media by corporate organisations and nongovernmental organisations in assisting to check bullying is most welcome,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said that at the same meeting, the Education Ministry proposed the condition that all preschools in the national education system implement the National Pre-School Standard Curriculum (KSPK).

He said the KSPK, implemented in 2010, had been improved with revisions for implementation this year.

“The KSPK (2017 revision) contains six main elements, including spirituality, attitude and values, as well as two components, namely Islamic education for Muslim pupils and Moral Education for non-Muslim pupils.

Earlier, Ahmad Zahid chaired a meeting of the High-Level Committee on the Tahfiz Schools Special Task Force, at which it was decided that tahfiz institutions implement the national curriculum registered with the Education Ministry in accordance with the Education Act 1996 (Act 550).

He also called for a concerted effort by the Education Ministry, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia and state religious authorities and associations to encourage and ensure that these tahfiz institutions did so.

He said the Cabinet meeting on Oct 4 agreed to allocate RM30 million in addition to the RM30 million allocation announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Budget 2017 for the renovation of tahfiz institutions in the country this year.

“This is evidence of the government’s concern to ensure that tahfiz schools provide a conducive and safe educational environment,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid said that in Budget 2018, a RM50 million allocation was made to Giatmara to repair and maintain the wiring system at all registered tahfiz institutions in the country.

He also said that the Giatmara Skills Training Scheme would be introduced to equip tahfiz students with additional skills. - Bernama