Al-Zaytun boarding school enjoys impressive growth<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun is a relatively new but hugely wealthy Islamic boarding
\nschool or pesantren located in the remote village of Mekar Jaya
\nin Haurgeulis subdistrict, Indramayu regency, West Java. It's
\nabout 32 kilometers from the Indramayu-Jakarta highway.<\/p>\n
Its vast and quick growth has impressed many people,
\nparticularly those involved in running similar Islamic boarding
\nschools across the country.<\/p>\n
Several graduates of many other pesantren have said it was an
\nincredibly stunning project carried out by Al-Zaytun.<\/p>\n
Despite the monetary crisis first to batter Indonesia in July
\n1997, Al-Zaytun continued the construction extensively with a
\ntotal of at least 50,000 square meters of buildings established
\nannually.<\/p>\n
The construction of its first buildings started in 1996.<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun (olive tree in Arabic) was established in 1993 as
\nIndonesian Pesantren Foundation (YPI) on 1,200 hectares of
\noriginally swamp land that now have been converted into fertile
\nplots. The scale is equal to around five times of the total area
\nof Jakarta's 279-hectare Bung Karno sports complex.<\/p>\n
However, studies began on July 1, 1999 at the junior high
\nschool. One month later, the then president, B.J. Habibie
\ninaugurated the pesantren.<\/p>\n
Only in three years after its opening, Al-Zaytun has managed
\nto recruit more than 5,300 female and male students -- from
\nacross Indonesia and neighboring countries. In addition, it is
\nalso home to more than 500 teachers and 3,000 workers, mostly
\nlocal villagers.<\/p>\n
Only 200 hectares of the land is used to house the Al-Zaytun's
\neducation complex and the remaining 1,000 hectares for farmland
\nand agricultural business aimed at supporting the finance of Al-
\nZaytun.<\/p>\n
It is still expanding by buying more plots still cultivated by
\nlocals who want to sell their land.<\/p>\n
The pesantren is far larger than another modern Islamic
\nboarding school called Gontor in the East Java town of Ponorogo,
\nwhich was established in 1926, has only less than 250 hectares of
\nland and is home to more than 11,500 students accommodated on its
\nsix campuses.<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun is not a typical pesantren in Indonesia, which
\nnumbers more than 300,000 throughout the country. It is vast,
\nmodern and operated mechanically, making it the largest Islamic
\nschool in the country and probably in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
It has a five-story hotel comprising of 150 rooms, which is
\ndesigned on commercial basis for parents, guests and other
\nvisitors who prefer to check in. The profits generated from the
\nbusiness are used to help finance Al-Zaytun. The large hotel also
\nhas seminar and conference facilities, and a restaurant.<\/p>\n
Also available in the complex are a minimarket, a large mosque
\nto accommodate around 8,000 people, and sports facilities
\nincluding a soccer stadium. In an addition to this, the pesantren
\nis drawing a plan to build a new, large sports stadium to match
\ninternational standards.<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun is also currently completing the construction of a
\ngiant six-story mosque on 6.5 hectare-land to be equipped with a
\n130-meter high minaret that will be higher than the country's
\nonly 45-meter high National Monument (Monas) in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Should the new mosque, called Rahmatan Lil Alamin (blessing
\nfor universe) be completely built by mid 2003, it will be larger
\nthan the nation's historic five-story Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta,
\nor even the biggest in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
All major buildings were constructed with steel the pesantren
\nimported from Poland. All the projects, including design and
\narchitectural works, did not involve foreign or domestic
\ndevelopers, but were undertaken by the pesantren. It even has its
\nown heavy and sophisticated construction equipment.<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun is almost self-sufficient in fulfilling its daily
\nneeds, with its own herds of dairy and beef cattle along with
\ngoats, sheep, chicken, fish farming, pepper and rice fields.<\/p>\n
It is equipped with a rice huller plant, a furniture factory,
\na steel processing plant and printing equipment. Large
\nplantations of high-quality teak, which is used to make furniture
\nfor offices and classrooms, are also found there.<\/p>\n
Al-Zaytun is now moving to expand its presence in at least 342
\ncities throughout the country, where hundreds of hectares of land
\nhave been prepared. The expansion has started in Subang in West
\nJava, and Banten.<\/p>\n
The subjects taught in Al-Zaytun correspond to those outlined
\nin the national education curricula by the Ministry of National
\nEducation and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.<\/p>\n
Human rights, constitutional law and journalism are among the
\nsubjects for students of the pesantren's junior high school,
\nwhich also include basic Islamic teachings, such as Qur'anic
\nreading and memorization as well as Islamic history.<\/p>\n
The Pancasila state ideology, which becomes the standard
\nsubject in most of the country's schools, is not on offer in the
\npesantren.<\/p>\n
Arabic and English are spoken at Al-Zaytun, although they are
\nyet compulsory for its students. The pesantren management said
\nother foreign languages, including Chinese, will also be taught
\nthere.<\/p>",
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