Status of Al-Barakah Tahfiz to be known in Aug

IPOH: The fate of the Al-Barakah Quran Tahfiz unit at the Al Barakah Education Centre in Manjoi here will be known by August 5 after discussions held by various parties including the state government are finalised.

Its founder and principal Datuk Mohd Kazim Elias said he had held discussions with several tahfiz operators about a possible takeover of the centre, including of the staff and students.

However, he added, if these did not materialise, he would try to reduce the teaching force and adjust the learning system, focusing only on tahfiz studies.

“This means that there will no longer be any academic studies like SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) subjects, Mandarin or Tamil taught at the centre.

“But I am reluctant (to make the decision to reduce the teaching force and study scope) because I want the tahfiz students to become professionals,” he told reporters after attending the wedding of two senior citizens who were students at the centre here yesterday.

The Al-Barakah Education Centre which had been operating since 2006 has three units, namely the Tahfiz Al-Quran, the Adult Education Centre and the Nurul Barakah Kindergarten.

Mohd Kazim said he recently received a contribution of RM150,000 from the Perak state government for the education centre.

“Thank you for the concern over the financial issues of the education centre, and I am waiting for a suitable date for a meeting with the Menteri Besar (Ahmad Faizal Azumu),” he said.

Ahmad Faizal had previously said that he would discuss with Mohd Kazim a possible solution which would allow the education centre to continue operating.

Mohd Kazim also said he was thankful that he was once again receiving invitations to hold religious talks and classes after news of his predicament went viral on the social media.