Its minister, Mahdzir Khalid, said this included investigating the educational background of the teaching staff and records of where they had taught.
He said the move was aimed at preventing a recurrence of the incident in which tahfiz (religious) school pupil Mohammad Thaqif Amin Mohd Ghaddafi, 11, was alleged to have been abused by an assistant warden at the school in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
Subsequent to the alleged abuse, the victim’s legs were amputated due to bacterial infection. However, he died yesterday at the Sultan Ismail Hospital.
“However, it (the move to scrutinise) is subject to the schools registered with the ministry and the Islamic Development Department (Jakim).
“It is difficult for the ministry to monitor tahfiz centres, which are set up privately but we urge them to do so,” he told reporters after the “Negaraku, Menghubung Menyatu” programme at the Kampung Tengah Public Field, Mukim Kurong Hitam, here today.
Mahdzir, prior to this, had said private religious stream schools, including tahfiz centres, would be registered under Jakim soon, in line with the National Tahfiz Education Policy, as suggested by Prime Minister Najib Razak.