Recent RM30m allocation to upgrade tahfiz schools, not pay salaries - Zahid

He said 80 per cent of the RM30-million allocation for the coordination of Tahfiz education announced in Budget 2017 had been used to pay the salaries of the staff at the Tahfiz schools.

"The government had given a similar allocation (in Budget 2017) but not many of the Tahfiz schools used the funds for upgrading.

"They used more than 80 per cent of the funds to pay the salaries when the primary objective of the funding was to upgrade the infrastructure," he said when opening the Conference on Human Capital Psychology 2017, here, today.

Najib announced on Sept 15 an allocation of RM30 million to upgrade Tahfiz schools following the fire at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah Tahfiz residential school in Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, which claimed the lives of 21 students and two teachers.

Ahmad Zahid said that as the chairman of the High-Level Committee of the Tahfiz Schools Special Task Force, he would ensure that the allocation was fully used to upgrade the infrastructure and facilities at Tahfiz schools.

He also said that since the Royal Commission of Inquiry was set up to investigate the Pondok Pak Ya fire (in Kedah) in 1989, more than 100 fires had occurred at Tahfiz schools resulting in the deaths of 57 people and yet there were quarters which compromised on safety.