The Pareto Technique: The Secret Behind Gontor's Rapid Learning Success

In the modern era, ‘effective’ and ‘efficient’ have become new mantras in the world of education. Nearly every course brochure offers similar promises: fast, practical, and hassle-free. Even claims that sound too good to be true, like ‘mastering Arabic overnight’, are not uncommon. On one hand, people are increasingly required to move quickly. Parents want their children to learn fast. Students desire instant results. The professional world also values practical skills more than lengthy processes whose outcomes are not immediately visible. This has subsequently rolled through lay society and sparked a sensitive question within the tradition of Arabic language teaching: ‘If the ultimate goal is to understand Arabic, why do many pesantren require their students to memorise thousands of lines of poetry first? Why not use a more practical method?’ This question sounds simple, but it actually touches on a long-standing debate about the philosophy of learning: should education emphasise depth of process or effectiveness of results? Interestingly, the pesantren world has its own varied answers. Some circles maintain classical methods because memorising nadzam is not merely a tool for understanding knowledge. It is part of an Islamic scholarly tradition preserved for centuries. Within it lie lessons in patience, perseverance, and proper conduct towards scholars, as well as the connection of intellectual chains of transmission that cannot be measured simply by the logic of ‘quick comprehension’. In this tradition, futuh, or the opening of understanding, is often believed to be not solely the result of intelligence or the effectiveness of a learning method. It is born from a combination of outward mujahadah, through serious effort in attending study circles, understanding, and memorising, and inward mujahadah, through the blessing of the spiritual relationship between student, teacher, and the knowledge being studied. However, another perspective sees that learning methods do indeed evolve according to the needs of the times. The focus is no longer on how many texts are memorised, but on how quickly knowledge can be understood and then applied in real life. In fact, within Islamic history itself, efforts to simplify learning have long existed. The arrangement of the Qur’an into 20 pages per juz, the addition of diacritical marks, and the codification of Makkiyah and Madaniyah verses are all forms of endeavour to make knowledge easier for the ummah to understand.