No Shortage Of Religious Textbooks
By Achong Tanjong

Bandar Seri Begawan - There are more than enough new religious textbooks for religious schools in the country.

This was said by Assistant Director of Islamic Education Ustazah Hjh Fatimah bte Haji Abdul Ghani yesterday, in response to a news report on April 3 on concerns over shortage of new textbooks, during a meeting with religious school headmasters at Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic- Secondary School for Boys, Jalan Tutong.

Also present at the event, aimed at tackling the issue of textbook shortage, were officials from the Department of Islamic Education, under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Ustazah Hjh Fatimah said the department has printed 9,000 copies of each textbook, based on the number of students and teachers in January 2008. There is no issue of textbook shortage, she added.

Based on statistics in February 2008, there are 5,763 PRA children, 6,451 primary one students, 6,175 primary two students, 6,181 primary three students, 5,936 primary four students, 5,400 primary five students, and 4,895 primary six students.

Following an investigation by the Department of Islamic Education, it was found that several schools had taken more textbooks than needed, which led to shortages in other schools, said Ustazah Hjh Fatimah.

To solve the problem, she urged religious school headmasters, who had taken extra copies, to return them to the store.

She also said the department will continue to upgrade their monitoring process to ensure the textbooks are distributed through a proper channel to avoid such a problem from arising again. "Don't make it an issue," she added. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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