THE Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) has identified 266 private religious schools in Johor that are still not registered, the Johor state assembly was told today.

State Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid said they comprised 31 tahfiz schools, 12 pondok schools, 10 Islamic primary schools and 213 preschools.

“JAINJ has been telling the preschools of their obligation to register.

“For tahfiz schools that wish to be registered in Johor, they need to go through a number of approval processes according to the Control of Islamic Religious School Enactment,” he said in response to a question from Gan Peck Cheng (Penggaram-PH).

Fared said JAINJ would continue to monitor and assist tahfiz schools that face difficulty getting registration approval from various quarters.

To date, 37 private religious schools of various categories are in the process of obtaining registration and completing their registration documents, he said.

Earlier, Gan had asked about the number of unregistered private religious schools and the legalisation process undertaken by the state government. – Bernama, September 14, 2023.