Ministry of Religious Affairs revokes licence of Ndolo Kusumo Islamic boarding school, bans intake of new students
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) has revoked the Registered Licence of the Ndolo Kusumo Islamic Boarding School (Ponpes) in Tlogosari Village, Tlogowungu Subdistrict, Pati Regency, Central Java, following allegations of sexual violence by a caregiver against female students.
“The steps taken by Kemenag include revoking the licence, prohibiting the acceptance of new students, deactivating those considered aware but inactive, and processing the perpetrator through legal channels,” stated Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Romo Muhammad Syafi’i in his remarks in Jakarta on Thursday.
Kemenag reaffirmed its commitment to not tolerating any form of sexual violence in religious educational institutions.
Deputy Minister Romo Syafi’i stated that evaluations are not only conducted on the perpetrator but also on parties who knew of the alleged deviations yet took no action.
According to the Deputy Minister, perpetrators of sexual violence must be punished as severely as possible if proven guilty under the law. He assessed that such actions not only cause trauma to victims but also damage public trust in pesantren as institutions for education and character building.
The Deputy Minister also emphasised the importance of early preventive measures, including evaluations of caregivers and parties in the pesantren environment.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Pati Regency Kemenag Office, Ahmad Syaiku, affirmed that his side provides no tolerance towards perpetrators of sexual violence.
“We provide no tolerance whatsoever towards perpetrators of sexual violence,” he said.
The Pati Kemenag has conducted factual verification and compliance evaluation of the pondok pesantren on 4 May 2026. The evaluation results form the basis for the licence revocation, which officially takes effect from 5 May 2026.
Kemenag will also conduct an assessment to determine the process of relocating students to other pondok pesantren or madrasahs.
Similar steps have been taken by the Lampung Regional Office (Kanwil) of Kemenag, which is processing the revocation of the Registered Licence of Ponpes Nurul Jadid in Mesuji Regency after allegations of sexual violence against female students emerged.
The Head of the Lampung Kanwil Kemenag, Zulkarnain, strongly condemned the alleged indecent acts committed by certain leaders of the pondok pesantren.
“The ponpes is no longer operational and is currently in the process of licence revocation,” said Zulkarnain.