Tahfiz schools urged to register with Education Ministry to enhance safety

Operators of Islamic religious schools in the country have been urged to register with the Education Ministry or the state religious department to enhance school safety and security.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the ministry found it difficult to monitor and enhance security features of tahfiz schools and its students since most of them were not registered.

"There are these religious schools under the education ministry known as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) or government-aided religious schools (SABK) and some religious schools are registered under the state government called Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR).

"But there are also tahfiz schools which are not registered anywhere, (thus) this is the problem we are facing which we have to do something about," he told reporters after the presentation of contributions to the Siamese community, Padang Terap district, in Kampung Changdeng here today.

Under the programme, 1,700 people received donations of food items including rice and cash.

The Siamese community's confidence in UMNO and the Barisan Nasional is high with over 2,900 UMNO members in Padang Terap, comprising Siamese.

Mahdzir said owners or operators of private tahfiz schools should be more responsible with emphasis on student safety.

-- BERNAMA