THE government wants to increase the dignity of huffaz (memorisers of the Quran) nationwide by ensuring that they also have academic qualifications and are not left out of the national education system, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

He said this could be achieved by the creation of a special teacher training module provided by Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), in addition to providing the opportunity to the huffaz to continue their studies to degree-level at the university.

He said the initiative was in line with the government’s goal of producing 125,000 huffaz professionals by 2050.

“This means that they will not only become professionals such as engineers, lawyers, doctors, and accountants and join institutions and corporate bodies, but at the same time, they can also continue to be imams at mosques,” he said at UPSI in Tanjung Malim today.

The deputy prime minister said huffaz must have SPM qualifications at the very least, one of the requirements to join the public service, because the government saw most people from this group fall below the poverty line, due to the public perception that their services should be free of charge.

The perception, he said, was not appropriate because the huffaz also need to generate their own income for survival.

“We should not underestimate those who are in the field of religion, especially those who are in tahfiz centres, so much so they are not marginalised from the national education system,” he said.

“The government has always supported these plans, and the National Association of Al-Quran Tahfiz Institutions (Pinta) has certainly taken various measures,” he said.

Zahid previously said the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DPTN) 2.0 would be launched on March 11, and that the government was studying the previous DPTN launched in 2016 to ensure there was co-ordination in terms of teaching methods in tahfiz institutions. – Bernama, February 19, 2023.