Directorate General to Oversee More Than 42,000 Islamic Boarding Schools

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Religious Affairs is continuing preparations for the establishment of the Directorate General for Islamic Boarding Schools (Ditjen Pesantren), which will be a first-level echelon structure and will manage more than 42,000 Islamic boarding schools.

The Director General of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Amien Suyitno, said that the establishment of the Directorate General for Islamic Boarding Schools is an important moment. This is because, until now, the management of Islamic boarding schools has been under the Directorate General of Islamic Education (Pendis), which has a very broad scope of work.

“Until now, the Directorate General of Islamic Education has been handling madrasahs, from Raudlatul Athfal (RA) to Madrasah Aliyah (MA), Islamic religious higher education institutions, as well as more than 42,000 Islamic boarding schools. Its scope of work is very large. Separating this structure will make the management of Islamic boarding schools more focused, faster, and measurable,” said Suyitno in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

In this Presidential Regulation, the organizational structure of the Ministry of Religious Affairs consists of the Secretariat General, the Directorate General of Islamic Education, the Directorate General for the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah, the Directorate General for Islamic Community Guidance, the Directorate General for Christian Community Guidance.

Then, the Directorate General for Catholic Community Guidance, the Directorate General for Hindu Community Guidance, the Directorate General for Buddhist Community Guidance, the Inspector General, the Agency for Religious Moderation and Human Resource Development, and three expert staff.

“The new Presidential Regulation on the Ministry of Religious Affairs is in the process of inter-ministerial harmonisation, including with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the State Secretariat,” said Suyitno.

He is optimistic that the regulation will be completed soon, because the establishment of the Directorate General for Islamic Boarding Schools has long been an aspiration of the Islamic boarding school community.

“This is not a new idea. It has been fought for for a long time and is now finding its momentum,” he said.

Suyitno views the establishment of the Directorate General for Islamic Boarding Schools not just as an addition to the bureaucratic structure, but as directly related to the priority of developing national human resources.

Islamic boarding schools, he said, not only function as religious educational institutions, but also have a role in da’wah (Islamic propagation) and community empowerment.

“If managed more focused, the impact will not only be on education, but also on strengthening the economy of Islamic boarding schools and social development in the regions,” he said.

With the number of Islamic boarding schools reaching tens of thousands and spread to remote areas, the existence of a separate Directorate General is expected to accelerate the distribution of programs and the affirmation of budgets in a more targeted manner.