Ministry of Religious Affairs and British Council Train 41,833 Islamic School English Teachers

Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) has launched its first collaboration with the British Council to enhance the competence of English language teachers across madrasahs (Islamic schools) throughout Indonesia. The professional development programme represents a strategic initiative to strengthen the quality of 41,833 madrasah teachers in meeting global educational challenges.

The cooperation was formally initiated through the signing of a memorandum of understanding in November 2025. Implementation has taken the form of an eight-week training programme, which concludes with an in-person workshop in Jakarta at the end of February 2026.

Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar stated that this collaboration represents a concrete step to enhance the quality of madrasah education whilst supporting the strategic partnership between Indonesia and the United Kingdom.

According to Nasaruddin, the collaboration fulfils the Ministry’s Asta Protas (Eight Strategic Programmes) framework. It also supports the commitments outlined in the Indonesia–United Kingdom Strategic Partnership agreement signed by President Prabowo and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in January 2026, in which education is identified as one of the primary pillars of cooperation.

“We hope this collaboration will not end here. We are confident that together with the British Council we will continue to maintain the quality of education, particularly in madrasahs,” Nasaruddin stated during his remarks at the Ministry of Religious Affairs office on Jalan MH Thamrin, Jakarta, on Thursday, 26 February 2026.