Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar said he has instructed the Fire and Rescue Department to conduct checks on tahfiz schools to ensure that they abide by safety guidelines.

"I have ordered the fire department to check tahfiz schools to make sure they are following safety guidelines as stated in the Fire Services Act," Noh said in a Facebook post today.

This comes after a fire razed the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz school in the early morning yesterday, claiming the lives of 21 children and two wardens.

Noh had previously said that the school did not have a valid permit from the Fire Department, though it was in the process of applying for one.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid has suggested the formation of a committee, involving both the federal and state governments, to coordinate tahfiz school education nationwide.

This committee, Mahdzir (photo) said, would be responsible for streamlining student registration and to tighten the supervision and safety at tahfiz schools at state levels.

"Let us together make sure such an incident does not occur.

"When something like this happens, there is no need to immediately start pointing fingers at anyone but to look at (how to solve) this issue, especially for the welfare of the victims and their families," he said in a statement today while expressing his condolences to the families of the victims.

The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) said this incident should serve as a reminder that all schools, including religious schools, must be regulated by the Education Ministry.

"Suhakam is of the view that the government must be in a position to determine, put in place mechanisms and regulate the safety and security aspects of all educational institutions.

"Suhakam finds it unacceptable that the school was allowed to operate without having complied with safety and health standards and regulations, including an inspection by the Fire Department," its chairperson Razali Ismail said in a statement.

For actual learning to take place, he stressed, the learning environment for children must be environmentally and psychologically safe.

"Children, as well as their teachers and support staff, deserve to be in a safe learning environment.

"They have a right to be safe from accidents and potential dangers," Razali said.