KUALA LUMPUR: A High-Level Committee (HLC) on Tahfiz School Task Force has been set up to look into improving the operations of Islamic religious school, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom said the committee is being chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"The government has set up the HLC in an effort to improve tahfiz schools.
"The committee will propose improvements in all aspects including safety," he said in reply to Datuk Seri Abdul Manan Ismail (BN-Paya Besar).
He said the government has also instructed the Fire and Rescue Department to conduct safety checks on all tahfiz institutions throughout the country.
The Fire and Rescue Department had also been told to propose improvements in that aspect, including ensuring that upgrading works were based on specifications set by the department.
Tahfiz institutions were thrown into the limelight following the fire which killed 23 people, including two wardens at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious school in Kampung Datuk Keramat on Sept 14.
It prompted the setting up of a special task force to probe into the fire and and evaluate previous recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) set up to probe fire incidents involving religious schools.
Another tahfiz school, the Nur Al-Quran Learning and Tahfiz Centre in Selangor, was also razed in a fire the following month.
On Oct 4, the Cabinet agreed to allocate RM30 million, in addition to the RM30 million allocation announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the 2017 Budget to repair tahfiz institutions nationwide.
In the 2018 Budget, Najib announced that RM50 million would be allocated to GiatMara for repair and maintenance of the wiring systems of registered tahfiz schools nationwide.
Report by FERNANDO FONG, VEENA BABULAL and ARFA YUNUS