System to register religious schools in the works

SHAH ALAM: The government is working on a system which requires all religious schools to register with the Education Ministry following a student abuse case in Johor which may have cause the student's legs to be amputated.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (pix) said religious schools currently register themselves with either the Ministry or the state government, but smaller religious schools with few students are often unregistered.
On the abuse case, Mahdzir said the Ministry will investigate the matter thoroughly but noted that the school is likely a private facility and he has yet to receive a report on it.
"We don't know which school this is. I don't have a report yet but I am quite certain that this is a private facility. Nevertheless, we will have a thorough investigation and we will look into the school, the teacher, and the student," he told the press in Glenmarie Golf and Country Club today.
An 11 year-old religious school student in Kota Tinggi, Johor, was allegedly badly beaten with a rubber hose by an assistant warden there and had to amputate his legs due to the injuries.
On another school-related incident, Mahdzir said preventing students from participating in criminal gangs should start with school administrations.
"Schools should handle these (cases) internally, by having counselors or teachers talk to these students, their parents, or their friends," he said.
However, Mahdzir said, if students have already joined criminal gangs then the police will have the authority to investigate and take action if necessary.
He was commenting on an incident where dozens of gang members caused a ruckus outside a school in Klang, seemingly in celebration, and added that the Education Ministry will fully cooperate with police in the investigation.
Mahdzir was attending the HELP charity golf tournament jointly organised by Umno Youth's Urban and Housing Affairs Bureau (HELP) and Yayasan Al Hussin here.
The tournament managed to raise RM2.7 million to fund the HELP Tuition programme for Form 5 students who will be taking their SPM examinations.
The tournament was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and by Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof.