Malaysia Plans to Expand Quran Teaching in Primary Schools
This is according to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, had held a meeting with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek over the matter last week.
He said the discussion was important as the proposal required curriculum alignment to ensure that pre-tahfiz learning implemented at preschools under the Department of Community Development (Kemas) could be continued from Year One to Year Six.
"We want the pre-tahfiz learning at Kemas preschools to be continued at the primary school level to avoid learning loss," he said when launching the opening of Maahad Tahfiz AlMashrafe in Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur.
When met by reporters later, Zahid said his ministry had also proposed that Muslim pupils be given additional classes to ensure that Quran memorization could be continued.
Asked whether the implementation of the initiative would involve the recruitment of additional religious teachers, Zahid said the existing teaching staff at Kemas preschools were sufficient, while implementation at national schools would depend on the consideration of the Education Ministry.
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He said efforts to expand tahfiz education were part of the responsibility and initiative to strengthen Islamic education among the younger generation, and had no political motive.
In a related development, Zahid said an agreement had also been reached with Fadhlina to align the role of Kemas as feeder schools to national schools, with emphasis on mastery of basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills.
Source: nst.com.my
