Deputy minister: Jakim's RM810m budget not that high, includes religious teachers' pay

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — The annual budget of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) that is now RM810 million is reasonable as it also pays for Islamic education teachers conducting al-Quran and Fardu Ain (KAFA) classes, said Fuziah Salleh.

Fuziah, the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of religious affairs, was asked if she expected government allocation for Jakim's budget next year to exceed this year's RM810 million.

Fuziah highlighted that half of the budget went to paying the salaries of around 32,000 KAFA contractual teachers nationwide, suggesting that the allocation for their pay could be shifted out from Jakim in the future if the teachers are given permanent posts.

"I would like to bring to your attention that half of that budget is to pay for the contract workers of KAFA teachers. It is not all for the administration of Jakim.

"So it's not that high when you understand it's to pay the KAFA teachers.

"But once we put KAFA teachers under a position scheme, then maybe we can put their emolument elsewhere so Jakim's budget will not look too bloated," she said in an interview this morning with radio station BFM.

According to the Finance Ministry's forecast federal expenditure for 2018, RM810.89 million is the estimated operating expenditure by Jakim for this year. This is an increase from its almost RM744.95 million operating budget last year.

In today's interview, Fuziah said she has in recent weeks been looking into the matter of KAFA teachers being put on contract only and without a proper scheme for their positions.

"So I am looking into that, I'm looking into their trainings and qualifications. We are bridging the gap and we are trying to do something progressive with regards to their positions," she said.

Fuziah told Parliament last month that KAFA teachers receive a monthly allowance of RM900 and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contribution of RM117, while the KAFA programme nationwide involves 31,460 of these teachers, 973,055 students and 5,609 premises.

Fuziah also said today that the review on Jakim and other federal Islamic agencies by a committee chaired by Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Pending the completion of the review, Jakim is still under the Prime Minister's Department or specifically under the latter's minister of religious affairs Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, Fuziah said.