Only three of the 38 tahfiz schools inspected by the Fire and Rescue Department in Malacca adhered to the standard fire safety requirements.

Its director Kamarulzaman Malik Abdullah said the main reason for this was the use of houses and mosques as the tahfiz schools.

The fire safety requirements for houses and mosques differed from those for tahfiz schools, he said to reporters after joining Malacca housing, local government and environment committee chairperson Sazali Muhd Din on a visit to the Madrasah Darul Muttaqim in Krubong.

Kamarulzaman (photo) said the inspection revealed that many of the tahfiz schools operated from houses or mosques, and these premises did not meet the required fire safety standards.

He also said that all tahfiz schools in the state were required to submit within two months a building plan for the operation of the schools, and failure to do so would result in their being ordered to close down immediately.

Meanwhile, Sazali said firefighting squads comprising students would be set up at all tahfiz schools in the state as a precautionary measure.

“We have identified 53 tahfiz schools and private religious schools registered under the Malacca Islamic Affairs Council and the firefighting squads will be set up at each of these institutions,” he said.

“The aspect of fire safety education is important. When a fire occurs at a tahfiz school, the students will not panic but act wisely with the knowledge they have to fight the blaze,” he said.

He also said that the tahfiz schools and private religious schools in the state would be “adopted” by the Malacca Fire and Rescue Department to ensure constant emphasis on the safety aspects and monitoring to prevent undesirable incidents.

Sazali said the department was required to report to the state government on the developments and status of the fire safety aspects at every tahfiz school and private religious school in the state.

Madrasah Darul Muttaqim chairman Amir Ali said that the tahfiz school, which had been in operation for five years, had 80 students and 20 fire-fighting squads.

- Bernama