KEMAS TAHFIZ PRE-SCHOOL PROG CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PUPILS IN 4M

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 3 (Bernama) -- The Pre-Tahfiz Nursery Programme of the Community Development Department (Kemas) which officially began this year is capable of producing pre-school pupils to master the four 'M's' namely studying, memorising, logical thinking (menaakul) and learning (ibrah).

Terengganu Kemas director Dr Faridah Mat said the pre Tahfiz module implemented by the government complements the 3M skills which are reading, writing and counting for pre-school pupils.

"Besides assisting children to master 3M, we are also targeting them to be able to study well; memorise some common surah (chapters); capable of reasoning or making judgment well; and absorbing the lessons.

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"What is most important is that these children are not only academically excellent, but we also want to prepare them as young as five and six years old to become people with exemplary moral," she said when met by Bernama at Tabika Kemas Lorong Gemia here.

In the 2024 Budget presented by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last October, the Unity Government allocated RM20 million to implement the Pre Tahfiz Kemas Programme.

The programme implemented by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development was participated by a total of 10,843 Kemas nurseries throughout the country where the existing curriculum will be strengthened and included with new programmes so that knowledge related to faith, worship, prayer and religion can be applied at the nursery level.

Faridah said the students who follow the Pre Tahfiz Programme are also targeted to finish reciting the 30 juzuk (sections) of al-Quran and memorise the common chapters before they enter primary school.

She said out of 856 nurseries in Terengganu, 450 of them have implemented the Pre Tahfiz Programme including the Lorong Gemia Nursery.

"Every morning, the children in the nursery will be 'nourished' with the recitation of the Quran which makes their hearts bright and easy to accept all the knowledge taught," she said.

Faridah said that before the Pre Tahfiz Programme was introduced, Terengganu Kemas had pioneered the appreciation of Islamic Education, especially the Quran, since 2007 through the Quran Smart Programme which is now called the Mus'ab bin Umair Programme.

"The programme was introduced by the Menteri Besar of Terengganu at the time, Tan Sri Idris Jusoh, who emphasised the importance of pre-school children to master the recitation of the Quran. So this Pre Tahfiz Programme is a complement to the programme we already have in Terengganu because the children will not only be able to read the Quran fluently but they will be able to memorise the surahs," she said.

In the meantime, to ensure the effectiveness of the Pre-Tahfiz Programme, the teachers have also been screened especially for their mastery of reciting the Quran so that only those who have the skills are selected to teach students to read and memorise the holy verses of the Quran.

Apart from that, she said that the selected teachers were also given courses in stages to continuously  ensure that they are proficient and master the Pre-Tahfiz module well.

"We hope that this good programme will continue and for Kemas Terengganu and we hope that all 856 nurseries are given the quota so that more children can participate in the Pre-Tahfiz Programme," she said.

-- BERNAMA