MELAKA: Some 3,115 students from 38 private Islamic religious schools in the state here could be exposed to health and safety hazards as their school officials have failed to submit proper building plans to the respective authorities.
This was revealed by Melaka Islamic Religious Council (Maim) deputy chairman Datuk Yaakub Md Amin, who addressed safety concerns involving Islamic religious students in the state.
“Of the total 38 schools, which are not registered yet, 14 are from the Melaka Tengah district and 12 each from the districts of Jasin and Alor Gajah,” he told the New Straits Times.
Yaakub said this when asked to comment on the level of compliance with safety standards of Islamic religious schools here, following the early morning blaze which killed 23 people at a tahfiz school in Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.
“Checks found that there are 53 private Islamic religious institutions in the state, but only 11 have registered with us. Of the remaining 42 unregistered private Islamic religious schools, 38 are in the process of registering with us while the remaining four (involving 335 students) have not registered with us at all.
“We are trying to assist those who have not registered with us to solve their issues, as a majority of them face problems with building plans, which have yet to obtain approvals from the various authorities, including the Fire and Rescue Department and the local councils,” he said.
Melaka Islamic Religious Department (Education) deputy director-general Ali Mohamad said a meeting was convened last month with all private religious schools in the state.
In the meeting, the schools were urged to improve their building plans, which must include safety aspects.
He said this was following the establishment of the Special Tahfiz/Pondok unit under the department in July, after the state legislative assembly sitting approved the implementation of the National Tahfiz Education Policy.