Boosting Islamic education: Secretariat set up with initial fund of RM10m - Zahid

PUTRAJAYA: The government today agreed to set up a secretariat with an initial fund of RM10 million for the planning, implementation and coordination of Islamic education development activities between the federal government and states.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in announcing this today, said the Islamic Education Campus of the Teachers' Education Institute (IPG) in Bangi had been chosen as the secretariat's base or operations centre, which would be managed by the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and Higher Education Ministry.
He said the establishment of the secretariat and selection of the Bangi IPG was part of the seven resolutions agreed upon at the three-day workshop on renewing Islamic education organised by the Islamic Education Coordination Advisory Board (Lepai), since Tuesday.
"On behalf of the government, I accept all the seven resolutions and to ensure that these will be implemented, a secretariat under Jakim will be set up to plan and implement them.
"We will make the IPG in Bangi as the centre to fine-tune the resolutions, and to plan and implement the related programmes with an initial fund of RM10 million contributed by various parties," he told a news conference after closing the workshop, here, today.
Also present were Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Jakim director-general Tan Sri Othman Mustapha.
Besides establishing the secretariat, the six other resolutions include strengthening Lepai as a prime coordination and accreditation body for Islamic education and improving the Quran and Fardhu Ain (Kafa) classes comprehensively.
The other resolutions were the coordination of government policies with regard to aid and facilities for states-run Islamic religious secondary schools (SMAN) and public religious secondary schools (SMAR), a special workshop for the coordination of accreditation and for regulating the pondok and tahfiz religious institutions, and the setting up of an Arabic language centre of excellence and an Islamic education fund under Lepai through strategic cooperation between the federal government, states, statutory bodies, the private sector and individuals.
Ahmad Zahid believed that the resolutions were thoroughly deliberated on by the religious scholars involved in the workshop before he and the relevant minister would present it to the Conference of Rulers.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid also offered himself to chair the secretariat with its meeting to be held every six months to keep track of developments in implementing the resolutions, besides finding solutions to any arising issue.
Earlier, in his speech, he proposed that the Kafa programme be made compulsory for all primary school Muslim pupils.
"As this class is the Muslim children's initial exposure to Islamic religious knowledge, KAFA must be empowered through certain improvements, and not merely seen as an Islamic education subject in the national school curriculum," he said. — Bernama