KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) expressed concern over the recurring cases of abuse at tahfiz schools and urged the ministries responsible to provide greater protection for the children.
Referring to the most recent cases of alleged sexual abuse of 9 boys by their school principal, it said the Ministries of Education and the Women, Family and Community Development did not have a strict policy of vetting a staff or teacher before employing them.
In a statement today, Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail said although they fully accept and support tahfiz education, recurring abuse at these schools could not be seen as isolated cases and left unmonitored.
He said barely 3 weeks ago, an 8-year-old boy from a tahfiz in Kuantan was physically abused by his teacher who threatened to cut off his genitals.
“In July this year, another tahfiz school teacher was arrested for alleged sexual abuse of a child.
“The government cannot afford to treat them as isolated incidents anymore and tahfiz must be monitered regardless of whether they are independent or private,” he said.
Razali said the co-existence of many schools in Malaysia reflected the diversity of Malaysians and preferences of parents.
However, the growth of tahfiz schools posed a grave concern because they often did not comply with safety and health regulations and the potential staff and teachers were not assessed before they were allowed near the students.
“They don’t have a strict policy where they assess a staff or teacher for having abusive tendency or being a possible threat to the children.
“Also there are no guidelines or policy to this effect by either the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development or the Ministry of Education,” he said, adding that Suhakam believed current child protection system which was in place has failed.
He said the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development also seemed to be failing in its duty to keep children safe.
“To top that, the Education ministry, too, has not taken steps to work with them to ensure child safety and security, especially at tahfiz schools.
”The two ministries and the new government are failing to meet acceptable standards of safeguarding children and do not seem to have learned any lesson from past incidences,” Razali said, adding that the new government should not use the child protection structure inherited from the previous government as an excuse for persistent inaction.
He said due to the increasing incidence of child abuse and the inability of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development to address these problems, Suhakam was of the opinion that there should be a separate Ministry for children,
“While the Education minister is in the process of reforming Malaysia’s education system, Suhakam hopes the Minister will not leave tahfiz schools behind.
“We suggest that these schools be subject to registration with the Ministry, and be given licences to operate,” Razali said, adding that this would provide an assurance to parents that these schools meet the standards set by the Ministry.