'Pesantren' teaches rote memorization of Koran

'Pesantren' teaches rote memorization of Koran

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Kebumen, Central Java

Education plays a very important role in life. With this truth in
mind, ustadz (Islamic teacher) Nurcholis Sanusi and his wife set
up a pesantren, or Islamic boarding school, for children in the
village of Tersobo 2 in Prembun district, Kebumen, Central Java.

The Huffad Khafsoh Abdul Azis pesantren, which was established
in 1992, teaches children aged six and over about Islam, focusing
on the memorization of all 6,666 verses of the Holy Koran.

Although most mosques have programs to teach children to read
the Koran and memorize verses, the pesantren is unique because it
targets small children.

"We only accept children who have just completed kindergarten
or about to enter elementary school," said Nurcholis.

The pesantren is strict about age rules and refuses to accept
children already in the second grade or higher.

"Once we accepted a third grader. By the time he completed
elementary school he still had not memorized the entire Koran and
he stopped his studies because his parents took him back home,"
Nurcholis said.

He said children at the pesantren started to memorize the
Koran when they were in the first grade, and by the time they
finished elementary school they had the holy book memorized.

"In my experience it is easier for primary school children to
memorize the Koran than adults," he said.

The school has some 40 students, both boys and girls, who come
from as far away as Bandung, Bogor, Jakarta and cities in
Sumatra. They only return home once a year and spend most of
their time reading and memorizing the Koran.

"I like it here since I have many good friends," said second
grader Yuli Audina Putri, who so far has memorized three of the
Koran's 30 sections.

The pesantren's students do not only learn the Koran and
Islamic teachings, but are also students at state-run elementary
school SDN 3 Tersobo. So apart from paying a monthly fee for the
pesantren, the students' parents also pay fees for the state-run
school. The pesantren helps take care of the administrative
procedures to enroll the children at the school.

The pesantren still allows the children to watch television
every Sunday morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

"We watch TV together and we love to see cartoons like Dora
Emon," said Dita Nuraini, a 7-year-old girl from Wonosobo,
Central Java.

Lessons begin after dawn prayers. About 80 percent of the
lessons consist of learning the Koran by heart, including the
correct pronunciation, with the remaining devoted to general
Islamic teachings.

"After dawn prayer we review the progress from the day before.
If the students have memorized the page, we move on to another
page. If they haven't we stay on that page," explained Nurcholis,
who runs the school along with two other teachers.

Although students are only allowed to return home once a year
from the middle of the fasting month of Ramadhan to 10 days after
the Idul Fitri celebration, parents are not encouraged to visit
their children too often.

"We just don't want the students to get distracted from their
studies," said Nurcholis. He said parents were expected to visit
their children twice a year.