Govt to upgrade status of Kafa religious teachers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is looking into upgrading the status of Kafa (religious) teachers, including appointing them to permanent posts, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Fuziah Salleh.

She said a study on the matter was being conducted by the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim), which is the coordinator of the Kafa programme.

“Jakim is conducting a study to upgrade the status of Kafa teachers, among others, to be appointed as permanent staff in the service and we want to ensure the skills of Kafa teachers are upgraded through appropriate courses,” she said at the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday.

She was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PAS-Kubang Kerian) on the Government’s plan to upgrade the status of Kafa contract teachers nationwide.

Fuziah said at present 31,460 KAFA teachers and 973,555 pupils were attending Kafa programmes at 5,609 Kafa premises nationwide.

She said the Pakatan Harapan Government was committed to maintaining a monthly allowance of RM900 and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contribution of RM900 per month and EPF contribution of RM117 per month to Kafa teachers as undertaken by the previous government.

However, she said the Government also welcomed the state government's matching grants in efforts to raise the salary of the Kafa teachers.

“Some states provide additional allowances such as Selangor which provides up to RM700 monthly, bringing the total to RM1,717 monthly, while other states also provide additional allowance,” she said.

Replying to a supplementary question from Ahmad Hassan (Warisan-Papar) on Kafa teachers in Sabah who received less than RM900 per month, Fuziah said the matter needed to be reported and investigated as the allocation to the agency responsible in implementing the programme was at the state level.

She said Jakim was the coordinator of the Kafa programme but the operation was conducted by state departments and Yayasan Islam at the state level.

“Currently, Jakim does not have its own building but is using premises such as national schools, mosques, community halls and shophouses for Kafa classes," she added. –Bernama