TANJUNG MALIM, Feb 19 — The government wants to increase the dignity of the ‘huffaz’ (memorisers of the Quran) in the country by ensuring that they also have academic qualifications and are not left out of the national education system, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said this could be achieved, among other measures, by the creation of a special teacher training module provided by Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), in addition to providing the opportunity to the huffaz to continue their studies up the degree level at the university.

He said the initiative was in line with the government's goal of producing 125,000 huffaz professionals by 2050.

"This means that they will not only become professionals such as engineers, lawyers, doctors, and accountants and join institutions and corporate bodies, but at the same time, they can also continue to be imams at mosques," he said after his special visit to UPSI here today.

Also present was UPSI Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Md Amin Md Taff.

The Deputy Prime Minister said huffaz must have academic qualifications including the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), which is one of the requirements to join the public service.

He said this was because the government saw most of those from the group being below the poverty line, due to the perception that the worship-related services performed by the group in question should be done for free.

The perception, he said, was not appropriate because the huffaz also need to generate their own income for survival.

"We should not underestimate those who are in the field of religion, especially those who are in tahfiz centres, so much so they are marginalised from the national education system," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said he also appreciated the efforts of UPSI which aims to create an institution of Islamic education and studies specifically to provide opportunities to huffaz throughout the country.

"The government has always supported these plans, and the National Association of Al-Quran Tahfiz Institutions (Pinta) as a non-governmental organisation has certainly taken various proactive measures," he said.

Ahmad Zahid previously said the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DPTN) 2.0 would be launched on March 11, and that the government was studying the previous DPTN launched in 2016 to ensure there was coordination in terms of teaching methods in tahfiz institutions. — Bernama