Jusuf Kalla backs GIHES 2026 to focus on character education
Indonesia’s 10th and 12th Vice President Jusuf Kalla has expressed support for the Global Islamic Holistic Education Summit (GIHES) 2026, which focuses on developing character-based and holistic education to meet the challenges facing future generations.
Kalla praised Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor for beginning to draw up an education roadmap for the next 100 years, describing it as a breakthrough in the development of national and international education.
“I support the GIHES event. Gontor is thinking ahead, 100 years ahead,” Kalla said in Jakarta on Saturday.
“This is an extraordinary breakthrough in the world of national and international education,” he said.
He assessed that this is very good and the first time in Indonesia that an educational institution has thought about what education in Indonesia, and even the world, will look like 100 years from now.
He said his support for the initiative stems from the strong emotional bond and long family history with Pondok Gontor that has been built since the time of his father, Haji Kalla, who had great confidence in the education system at the pesantren.
“For me and my family, especially my late father, Gontor has always been a hope. In the 1970s, when my father was still alive, he believed that there was only one best school, namely Gontor.
“That is why many of my younger siblings and nephews studied there,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and Chairman of the Gontor Waqf Board Dr. Hidayat Nur Wahid explained that one of the main focuses of the GIHES 2026 discussions is to address the phenomenon of mental fragility that is increasingly affecting the world’s younger generation.
According to him, the rapid advancement of information technology today has not been matched by strong character and leadership readiness.
He said many young people today find it difficult to collaborate, lack a strong work ethic, and are weak in leadership aspects.
“We see that true holistic education exists in pesantren, where for a full 24 hours students are nurtured in their mental, moral, and soft skills,” Hidayat said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the GIHES 2026 Committee KH. Adrian Mafatihallah said GIHES is the result of a collaboration between Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor (PMDG), Universitas Darussalam (UNIDA) Gontor, and the Gontor Alumni Pesantren Forum (FPAG), and is scheduled to take place on 5–6 September 2026 at Hotel Borobudur, Central Jakarta.
He said that through the GIHES 2026 forum, Gontor seeks to introduce the pesantren education model, which has been tested, as a global solution for producing future leaders with integrity.
GIHES 2026 is designed to be an international-scale forum, and the event will not only bring together education leaders from across Asia but will also feature experts and keynote speakers representing five continents.
“The presence of these global figures is expected to create synergy between the noble values of pesantren and modern educational innovation, in order to create a sustainable education and health ecosystem for future generations,” Hidayat said.