Indonesia allocates $177m to support Islamic schools

[Indos]

Indonesia allocates $177m to support Islamic schools ​

Adrian Wail Akhlas
The Jakarta Post Jakarta / Thu, October 22, 2020 / 04:33 pm

Best of both worlds: A student walks within the grounds of the Kauman Islamic Boarding School, which features traditional Chinese lanterns. (JP/Kusumasari Ayuningtyas)


The government has allocated Rp 2.6 trillion (US$177 million) to support pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) as part of the government’s broader efforts to revive an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.


It allotted Rp 2.38 trillion in education funds for pesantren and madrasah (Islamic schools), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said. A total of Rp 211 billion was also prepared to help schools with online learning.


For businesses created by santri (Islamic boarding school students), the government will provide funding through the micro credit program (KUR) and ultra-micro financing in state-owned banks. It will also provide incentives for teachers, ustad (Islamic teachers) and pesantren workers through social aid and infrastructure development.

“We are hoping that the santri can use this access to financing to support their businesses and empower our economic capacity,” she told a discussion on Thursday. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin previously instructed his subordinates to help pesantren stay afloat by providing them financial assistance during the health and economic crisis.

There are more than 28,000 pesantren in the country with 18 million santri, according to data from the Finance Ministry. “The government has allocated education funds for pesantren and other religious schools through the pesantren economic recovery program amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sri Mulyani said. “We are preparing this to help them embrace the new normal and help with their education operations.”

The program is part of the government’s Rp 695.2 trillion stimulus plan to revive the economy and strengthen the healthcare response to the pandemic, but critics say that slow disbursement has hindered the economic recovery.

The government has spent 48.6 percent of the stimulus since the start of the outbreak in the country seven months ago. Speaking during the same discussion, Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said pesantren could help boost the country’s sharia economy. “We should push the role of pesantren as the center of education and economic activity so that they can be more resilient and play an active role in developing the sharia economy,” the central bank’s top official said.

Indonesia allocates $177m to support Islamic schools

The government has allocated Rp 2.6 trillion (US$177 million) to support pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) as part of the government’s broader efforts to revive an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[Indos]

There are several good Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) that can become a role mode in the Muslim world. Like this Insan Cendekia Madania that really combine modern education using Cambridge system with Islamic teaching. Elementary, Junior High School, and High School is a boarding school. Many graduates from this Pesantren can enter best universities in Indonesia. Indonesia best universities are state owned like University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, etc

 

[nufix]

There are several good Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) that can become a role mode in the Muslim world. Like this Insan Cendekia Madania that really combine modern education using Cambridge system with Islamic teaching. Elementary, Junior High School, and High School is a boarding school. Many graduates from this Pesantren can enter best universities in Indonesia. Indonesia best universities are state owned like University of Indonesia, Bandung Institute of Technology, etc

These are not real pesantren, they are normal school in anything but name. How do I know this? I graduated from one of these schools and my graduation certificate was issued not by the ministry of religion, but by the ministry of education with a title of "Ijazah SMA". That is the reason why the graduates can continue with their formal higher education. The islamic element is just a sprinkle on a cake, mostly to cater to the portion of population that have become increasingly religious.

And these schools are actually boarding schools for rich kids, monthly tuition could amount to hundreds of dollars and sometimes without additional elements.