PUTRAJAYA, Jun 6 — The Education Ministry will introduce skills programmes for students of tahfiz schools — that teach Quran memorising — so that they can compete with the rest of the population once they have finished their studies.
Minister Maszlee Malik said the programmes will be done via community colleges, where the tahfiz students will be trained and equipped with the necessary knowledge.
“They will have the choice to pursue various fields.
“Per the urging of the Prime Minister, entrepreneurialism will also be inculcated into them,” he said during the ministry’s buka puasa at SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(1) here.
Maszlee said the ultimate aim was to ensure that the students will not only be limited in becoming religious teachers or scholars, and instead would be able to gain talents and develop Malaysia’s small and medium-size enterprises sector.
Tahfiz schools in Malaysia are largely outside the purview of the Education Ministry, instead reporting to the religious departments in order to operate. Many utilise their own syllabuses and teaching methods to educate students.
In November 14 last year, then deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, told the Dewan Rakyat that four curriculum models were being drafted under the National Tahfiz Education Policy, to shape future direction of tahfiz students.
