PESANTREN EMERGE AS LYNCHPIN OF ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT by Fardah

 

Jakarta, 22/11/2020 (ANTARA) - Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren, have not only managed to survive in Indonesia since colonial times, but have also assumed a strategic role in national development and economic empowerment, particularly at the grassroots level.

Indonesia has 28,961 pesantren catering to at least 18.5 million students, or santri, and employing about 1.5 million teachers, who are helping shape the future human resources of the nation.

On the occasion of National Santri Day on October 22, 2020, Vice President Maruf Amin urged santris to play an active role in developing the economy.

He said he hoped that pesantren would not only become hubs for producing Muslim clerics, but also centers for economic empowerment.

Amin lauded several community economic programs initiated in cooperation with pesantren, such as the establishment of convenience stores, cooperatives for santri, and the development of a business incubation center for Islamic boarding school students and a mobile apps service.

More collaborations must be done between the Islamic boarding school students and industry players to bring prosperity to the people, he remarked.

Pesantren, as the center of the preaching of Islam, must be made relevant and match the current pace of progress by using digital technology to reach a wider audience, Amin advised.

The government has committed to funding 209,449 Islamic boarding schools and institutions by allocating Rp2.6 trillion ($1.7 billion) in 34 provinces for the 2020-2024 period. The funds are meant to support online learning, operational costs, and healthcare programs for COVID-19 handling in Islamic boarding schools, among other things.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati recently confirmed the government's allocation of Rp2.6 trillion for pesantren and religious education amid the COVID-19 pandemic through the pesantren economic recovery program.

INDONESIAN INT'L ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY AS STUDY CENTER OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION by Fardah

  Jakarta, June 5,2018 (Antara)- President Joko Widodo's administration is determined to build an international Islamic university that can also serve as a study and research center of Islamic civilization in Indonesia.

         Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President M Jusuf Kalla laid the first cornerstone for the construction of the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) campus in Depok, West Java Province on June 5, 2018, to materialize the dream.

         Construction of the UIII campus had been planned since the past two years, according to Jokowi, who was on the occasion accompanied by Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin; Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljno; Research, Technology, and Higher Education Minister M. Nasir; and Governor of West Java Province Ahmad Heryawan.

         The plan had been discussed for two years but finding the land was not easy, he noted.

         Jokowi said he was keen to allocate one thousand hectares of land for the UIII campus, but it was difficult to find land on Java Island.

         "I offered (land) outside Java, but all teams disagreed," he added.

         "In fact, we get 142 hectares of land, which is far from one thousand hectares. However, after I observed it on the field, I was surprised, as 142 hectares of land is already quite vast. Alhamdulillah (thank God). Imagine if we could have got one thousand hectares," Jokowi pointed out.

         The university is to come up on 143 hectares that belonged to Indonesia's state radio station on Pemancar street, Cisalak village, Sukmajaya sub-district, Depok Municipality. The buildings will be on 21 hectares and the rest of the land will be open spaces and greenery.

         The president revealed that the design of the UIII campus will be futuristic and expressed hope that the UIII would become a study and research center of Islamic civilization in Indonesia.