Education Ministry focuses on safety aspects of tahfiz schools

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry will focus on the safety aspects of a tahfiz school before proceeding to its registration.

Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the matter was in line with the instruction of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who wanted the Fire and Rescue Department to inspect tahfiz schools and provide safety reports.

“To date, the department has checked 932 tahfiz schools nationwide. After we receive the report, we will make improvements to the educational institution.

“There is no point of talking about school registration and curriculum when the safety issues are still problematic,” he told a press conference after launching the Reproductive Health and Social Education ( Peers) at Sekolah Kebangsaan Putrajaya Precinct 17 (1) here yesterday.

Najib had instructed the Fire and Rescue Department to inspect the safety standard of all tahfiz schools following a fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz residential school in Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, which claimed the lives of 21 students and two teachers.

Meanwhile, Mahdzir urged all private kindergarten operators to emphasise on Peers in their education curriculum to disseminate healthcare and personal safety information among children.

He said Peers was one of the government’s efforts to expose children on reproductive and social education as early as four years, in line with the commitment to raise awareness on the implications of sexual crime.

He added the ministry had set up various educational programmes starting from pre-school, including the introduction of Peers in 2003. — Bernama