The party’s communications director, Khalid Samad, told FMT there was a shortage of such schools despite increasing demand from Muslim parents.

“This is where the government has failed,” he said. “It knows the demand is there but it’s not providing enough.”

Khalid was commenting on Titiwangsa MP Johari Abdul Ghani’s recent complaint that tahfiz schools were seen by some people as places for children with disciplinary problems or low academic achievement.

“This kind of mentality needs to change if we want to maintain the quality of religious institutions like tahfiz schools,” Johari said at a dialogue session with Titiwangsa residents.

Khalid, who is the MP for Shah Alam, said the negative perception of tahfiz schools came about because there was a time when parents would send their problem children there.

“Also, families who were not that well off would send their children there to be looked after by the schools,” he added. “That is the history.”

However, he added, this was generally no longer the case. He said religious awareness among Muslims had increased and many parents were keen on sending their children to religious schools, especially the ones offering integrated learning.

He said the Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi in Shah Alam was so popular that the demand for places was nearly six times its capacity.

“We need more schools like this,” he said. “If the government is serious about changing the perception towards religious schools, it needs to upgrade their facilities as well as their curricula. And it needs to build more of these smart religious schools.”