SELANGOR DUN | Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah today decreed that all unregistered private tahfiz schools in the state without modern curricula should be shut down.

"I decree that all private tahfiz schools which are not registered with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), and do not have a modern curriculum or academic education system should be closed, and the service should be terminated," the ruler said in his address at the opening of the Selangor legislative assembly today.

At present, Sultan Sharafuddin said, there are 15,000 students in 263 private tahfiz schools registered with Jais.

Last September, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said that Kuala Lumpur City Hall would close down all unregistered tahfiz centres.

This move was to ensure the safety and welfare of its students, as well as to preserve the image of Islamic religious institutions.

"We do not want tahfiz centres to be given exemption just because they are religious institutions. They must still register with (DBKL) and the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi).

"We will also come up with stricter rules for boarding schools, especially tahfiz schools," he had said.

Tahfiz schools had come under heightened scrutiny at the time due to the principal of an unregistered tahfiz school in Kepong being arrested for allegedly sodomising nine students.