Johor al-Quran Tahfiz Schools Association president Mohd Aripi M Husin said educators had three main options for punishing students at the private schools dedicated to teaching recitation and memorisation of the Quran.
“We first advise the tahfiz student, and if he commits the wrongdoing again we issue a warning. If the mistake is repeated a third time, then we hold a meeting with the student’s parents.
“If these three steps do not work, then only do we use the cane,” he told FMT at the Lexis Hotel here.
“Even then the caning must be appropriate with the spot (on the body) on which it is administered and not be injurious or harmful,” he said.
He added that caning was no longer preferred by teachers and wardens since emotional and psychological counselling were recently introduced for errant students.
“Besides asking the students to clean the canteen, toilets and clear general rubbish, we also penalise them by making them memorise a certain surah (Quranic chapter) or prayer,’ he said.
He added that punishment was only meted out to those who failed in certain aspects like memorising or complying with the school’s other requirements.
A tahfiz student who was lazy and lacked focus was also punished, he added.
Heavy punishment was enforced on students who repeated their mistakes, he said, citing offences like bullying, playing truant, smoking and stealing.
He said a student who failed to respond positively despite all the punishment meted out could be expelled from school.
Aripi was commenting on the death of Mohd Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi, 11, on April 26 as a result of being severely beaten at the Madrasah Tahfiz Al Jauhar in Kota Tinggi, Johor, where he was enrolled as a boarder.
A 29-year old assistant warden, reportedly an ex-convict, was arrested on April 22 in connection with the case. His remand was extended to May 3 yesterday.
Thaqif, who had both legs amputated due to the injuries he sustained, slipped into a coma before he died at the Hospital Sultan Ismail in Johor Bahru.
He was scheduled to have his right arm amputated as well due to the critical spread of the infection, but passed away before the operation could be carried out.
Aripi did not discount the possibility of a human error being committed by the perpetrator responsible for Thaqif’s death.
He however, advised the public not to point accusing fingers at anyone until investigations into the case were over.
“The school has several CCTVs. We hope that the case will be investigated in a transparent manner,” he said.
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