Dini & Maahad Tahfiz Sains (MTS), Tanah Merah, Kelantan – Part 1

Our daughter, Quistina Dini is currently studying in MTS and she will be sitting for her PMR this coming October 2009. Many people have been asking us about the school and how we came up with the decision to send her there. MTS is a fully residential school, sama macam SBP cuma bukan under Kementerian Pelajaran. MTS adalah sebuah sekolah di bawah kelolaan Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK) di bawah Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan. We didn’t know about the school until Dini voiced her intention to learn tahfiz after she sat for her UPSR in 2006. We asked around and search the internet for sekolah tahfiz and our ustaz mentioned about a newly opened school which combined science and tahfiz in Kelantan. At that time, the school in Tanah Merah was under construction and the students were temporarily housed in Beranang, Tumpat.

Dini, together with more than 1,000 applicants had to go through tough screening process. They were tested in both oral and written. The oral test includes the ability to memorise one page of Al-Quran within an hour. Out of 1,000+ applicants, only 200 were successful and Dini was lucky to be one of them. Dini was even more fortunate because she was among the first batch to study in the new school complex in Tanah Merah. The school is not like other ordinary co-ed school. The boys and girls are kept separated. Even the dining hall is separated by a wall in between. They even have separate slot to go to the canteen to buy food. The architect responsible must have given a lot of thoughts when he designs the school. I was impressed and personally felt that this should be the way forward.

MTS offers 4 areas of studies throughout the 5 years – Al-Quran, Arab, Agama and Academic. I remembered Dini studying about 19 subjects when she was in Form 1 and subjects relating to agama such as hadith, tafsir, sirah were all taught in Arabic. Poor girl, she only learnt Arabic in sekolah agama and scored B in her PSRA and UPKK. We were worried about her, whether she could cope with all the subjects, learn Arabic and most importantly memorise 6 juzuk of Al-Quran in her first year. As expected, she didn’t do that well in her first year, she was placed around 60 out of 200 students in the final exam. Dini as we know her, is very determine and she will do what it takes to be the best. She surprised us when she managed to get number one in her final exam last year. We were touched by her determination and will power to succeed. Hope she will do equally well in her PMR. Good Luck Dini…and we are proud of you.

First day in MTS

Girls' Hostel

Dini's room

School blocks

Office Building