President Signs Regulation Establishing Directorate General of Pesantren

President Prabowo Subianto has officially signed the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on the organisation and working procedures (ortaker) of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which regulates the establishment of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Pesantren. This policy is positively welcomed as a strategic step to strengthen the role of pesantren in Indonesia.

Director of Pesantren at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Basnang Said, expressed appreciation for the decision. He assessed that the formation of the Ditjen Pesantren marks an important milestone in strengthening the institutional framework of pesantren, especially after hajj and umrah affairs were separated into their own ministry.

“We express our thanks to President Prabowo for signing the Presidential Regulation related to the Ortaker of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which includes the establishment of the Directorate General of Pesantren,” Basnang said when met after attending the National Silaturrahmi of Islamic Organisations and Halal Bi Halal for Eid al-Fitr 1447 H by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta on Wednesday night (15/4/2026).

According to him, the next step is to follow up on the leadership’s directives at the Ministry of Religious Affairs to prepare the organisational structure under the Ditjen Pesantren. In the Perpres, the Ditjen Pesantren will have one secretariat and a maximum of five technical directorates.

Basnang explained that of the five directorates, the majority will focus on the educational functions of pesantren. “Pesantren has three main functions, one of which is education, so around two to three Echelon II units are being prepared to manage this field,” he said.