PUTRAJAYA, April 2 ― The government has allocated RM21 million to be disbursed as one-off assistance to registered private tahfiz and religious schools, as well as pondok schools and people’s religious schools (SAR) nationwide.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, in a statement today, said the one-off assistance by the government reflected its concern for Islamic education institutions whose operations and management are adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak and the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO).

The one-off assistance is in the form of living allowance of RM800 per person that will benefit 22,920 teachers, as well as operation assistance to cover their management cost, utility bills and rental for  2,119 educational institutions nationwide, he added.

According to Zulkifli, the one-off assistance is part of the RM100 million allocated to the Islamic Development Department Malaysia (Jakim) under the 2020 Budget 2020 which is aimed at financing the maintenance and upgrading of tahfiz institutions, pondok and Islamic religious schools.

He thanked Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz for approving the allocation. ― Bernama