KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — The government has agreed to contribute RM2 million to the National Association of Tahfiz Al-Quran Institutions Foundation (Yayasan Pinta) to empower tahfiz institutions in the country, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Speaking at the ‘23K Huffaz Malaysia’ gathering at the Federal Territory Mosque here today, he said the funds were a token of support from the government for the effort.

"Currently, there are 175,000 tahfiz students from 1,199 registered tahfiz centres, while another 125,000 students are in unregistered centres.

"For the tahfiz centres that are not registered, the foundation (Yayasan Pinta) will help them. The centres that are not registered do not receive government assistance because they do not meet the conditions,” he told reporters after the ceremony.

Yayasan Pinta and Koperasi Pinta were officially launched today under Pinta, a non-governmental organisation that fights for the welfare of ‘huffaz’ (memorisers of the Quran) and tahfiz centres across the country.

In his speech, Ahmad Zahid said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to the National Tahfiz Education Policy Action Plan (DPTN) 2.0 and the Guidelines for the Management of Tahfiz Institutions being launched today.

"It is a continuation of the DPTN Action Plan for 2016-2020. The development process of this plan is managed by Jakim (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) and involves various parties, including the state religious authorities, government agencies and tahfiz associations,” he said.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, said his ministry had adopted three tahfiz centres to also offer technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and the number would be increased to 10 by the end of the year.

"It aims to train huffaz to possess skills such as electrical work, fixing motorcycles or air conditioners with formal certification,” he said.

According to Ahmad Zahid, the Professional Huffaz Special Project Committee which he chairs involving various agencies including the Ministry of Education and the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), has developed seven significant modules to realise the agenda of producing a generation of professional huffaz. — Bernama