PBNU Chairman: Pesantren Implement Comprehensive Education Model

PBNU Chairman KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, known as Gus Yahya, has stated that pesantren implement a comprehensive educational model by building physical health, intellectual acumen, and spiritual closeness in students in a balanced manner. Gus Yahya said pesantren inherit an educational tradition that not only pays attention to physical aspects and intellectual abilities, but also gives attention to the spiritual as an important part of forming a complete human being. “Physical education is directed at forming a healthy and strong body, while intellectual education is carried out by filling and sharpening thinking skills through various knowledge so that students grow into intelligent individuals,” he said at the Gerakan Nasional Pesantrenku Aman event at Darul Ilmi Islamic Boarding School in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Tuesday. He emphasised that these thinking skills are needed so that students are able to find solutions to various problems faced in life, so that education does not stop at the mere mastery of knowledge. He stressed that spiritual development is an important part because humans are not only built from body and intellect, but also have a spirit that needs to be guided in order to find a way to continue drawing closer to Allah SWT. He said the rapid development of the times makes the need for knowledge increasingly diverse, so students need to understand various fields of science in order to face a life that continues to change. Moreover, he said, male and female students now not only study the Qur’an, fiqh, and other religious sciences, but also mathematics, physics, biology, and various other sciences needed when students enter life in the community. “Therefore, students must understand various good things, so that we do not become strangers in the midst of society,” said Gus Yahya.