TAHFIZ school operators are working on an education policy to streamline curriculum for all Islamic religious schools, with the priority now on setting up a database, nearly a week after a schoolboy died from abuse in a Johor school.

The database is important as it will come in handy when streamlining all religious schools under the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DPTN).

Federation of National Associations of Al-Quran Tahfiz Institutions (Pinta) president Zahid Mahmood told The Malaysian Insight that the groundwork has started on setting up a database, which will have details of all 1,200 tahfiz schools in Malaysia.

“With this database and the DPTN, we will be able to assess teachers, their teaching qualifications and skills, the quality of staff, curriculum, co-curriculum, pupils’ living conditions, safety standards, religious leanings and sources of funding of tahfiz schools,” said Zahid.

This will be the first database to be set up, since the establishment of tahfiz schools in Malaysia in the 1970s, to keep track of religious schools, including those which are not registered.

The data collection will be carried out by Pinta with the help of state religious departments and the Department of Islamic Development of Malaysia (Jakim).

Tahfiz schools come under the state religious department but checks have shown that almost half of the 1,200 schools are privately run and not registered.

The spotlight fell on tahfiz schools following the death of 11-year-old Mohd Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi last week, the result of alleged beating by an assistant warden of a privately run religious school in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

It was later reported that the assistant warden was an ex-convict, who was on parole, and the school had hired him to give him “a second chance”. He is now being investigated for murder.

Zahid said: “We cannot wait any more. We need the database now. It is necessary so we can keep tabs on the schools and it would be easier to streamline them once we have the DPTN.

“The framework and the system are expected to be ready within the next few months.”

Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) has been in the forefront of the tahfiz school issue, urging the government to review fully all religious schools in the country following Thaqif’s death.

PAGE chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said there must be a thorough assessment of the teachers, staff and also the religious leanings of these schools.

As of now, there is no database of religious schools in the country providing such information. A check by The Malaysian Insight showed no such information was available even on the Jakim website.

Zahid said Pinta, which was officially launched last month, has representatives in each state and they will be tasked with compiling the data from tahfiz schools in their jurisdiction.

“The data will be updated yearly to keep tabs on the number of tahfiz schools in the state,” he said.

The Pinta team working on this project had its first meeting last week to discuss the work structure.

He said the government wanted the DPTN to be implemented within two years but the federation will not rush it as “it will take time for all religious schools to be accept this new education policy”.

On May 20, some 30,000 huffaz (those who memorise the Quran) will gather at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur for the launching of the Pinta five-year strategic plan, which will be launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Under the strategic plan, the organisation will also set up a centre of excellence for tahfiz teachers, a teaching institute and a university.

Najib recently allocated RM80 million to registered pondok schools, Sekolah Menengah Agama Rakyat (SMAR) and tahfiz institutions under the Special Fund for Improvement and Maintenance of Schools, aimed at empowering and strengthening the religious education institutions.

Of the RM80 million, RM30 million was for coordinating and developing tahfiz education through  DPTN, the first of its kind by the government for religious education.

He also announced an incentive of RM10,000 for private tahfiz institutions registered with the state religious authorities. – May 3, 2017.