Deputy prime minister cites example of young offenders who have scored excellent results in SPM, besides those pursuing higher studies.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says Malaysia is the only country in the world which provides tahfiz (religious) education in prison.
TAPAH: The improvement in academic performance among young and juvenile offenders in prison has proven that prison is not a place to punish, but a place where they get a second chance to improve themselves, especially in education, says Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The deputy prime minister said this was evident from the results of the 2017 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination which saw 144 candidates, or 92.3% of young and teenage inmates, pass the exam, some with excellent scores.
“Sixty-two of them obtained at least 1A. There were five best students among them. One scored 9As, one scored 8As dan 2Bs, another one scored 7As and 1B, while two others obtained 6As.
“The number of offenders pursuing tertiary education in prison now stands at 41, comprising two at PhD level, three at Master’s level, 12 at degree level and 23 others at diploma level,” he said.
Zahid, who is also home minister, said this at the 228th Prison Day and 35th National Anti-Drug Day celebrations at the Arena Merdeka, here today.
He said the public should also change their mindset and accept the fact that prison was not a place merely to punish offenders.
“We have to change our mindset that all offenders must be punished and whipped because we are adopting a correctional approach, which is to rehabilitate,” he said.
Furthermore, Zahid said in order to ensure continuous education, Malaysia had also become the only country which provides tahfiz (religious) education in prison.
At present, he said four tahfiz centres for inmates have been set up, namely at the Kluang Prison in Johor Bahru, Tapah Prison in Perak, Marang Prison in Terengganu and Pokok Sena Prison in Kedah.
“These tahfiz centres were set up to enable and encourage the inmates to learn and memorise the Quran, so that when they were released from prison, they will not be involved in any criminal activity.
“In Johor, inmates who can memorise the 30 Juz’ (sections) of the Quran, will receive a special allowance of RM1,000,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the performance of the National Anti-Drug Agency, the deputy prime minister said the agency had done a good job in ensuring that drug-related offenders would secure a job once they were released from prison.
“Last year’s statistics showed that 43,453 or 72.28% out of 60,116 OKPs (Persons Under Surveillance) have jobs,” he said.
He also said the public should show concern and become the eyes and ears of the agencies to combat drug-related crime in the country.
“It needs a village to grow a child…this can also be adopted in combating drug-related crime. We have to show concern for our society,” he said.
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