SHAH ALAM, 24 Feb: Parents are reminded to join in monitoring their children studying at Tahfiz institutions, especially to fight against the spread of the militant jihad ideology.

The Director of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), Datuk Haris Kasim, said that parents should ensure that their children are receiving the right religious education and not one that is extremist in nature.

“Do not think that just sending children to religious schools make them good, especially those living in dorms.

“If the institution is under Jais, we monitor it and do not allow any form of gadgets. But for private institutions that allow students to go home every day and are exposed to social media information, it needs to be monitored,” he said.

Prior to this, he officiated the Kafa Class Assessment Test and Primary School Assessment Test (UPSR) Excellence Awards Ceremony 2014 for Selangor at the Tengku Ampuan Jemaah Mosque today.

On February 18, a 14-year-old female student from a Tahfiz institution in Shah Alam was detained by the police at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for being suspected of trying to join the jihadist militant group, IS, in Syria.

Elaborating, Haris said that investigations found that the student was not studying at a Tahfiz institution owned by Jais.

“However, the case is still under investigation and we have still not received complete information on the identity of the student involved.

“For schools registered with Jais, we are dedicated in monitoring the syllabus so that it does not deviate from what is set,” he said.

Jasi has three Tahfiz institutions, the Jugra Tahfiz Institution, the Sabak Bernam Tahfiz Institution and the Klang Tahfiz Institution.

Meanwhile, there are 150 registered Tahfiz institutions and at least 10 others are still waiting for their registration to be approved.

NS