Mataram Ministry Of Religion Prepares Strategy To Prevent Rape Cases In Islamic Boarding Schools

JAKARTA - The Office of the Ministry of Religion of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara, has increased supervision and guidance at Islamic boarding schools as a step to prevent sexual violence and other unwanted things from happening in the pesantren environment.

"The rape case against 12 female students at a boarding school in Bandung, West Java, has tarnished the world of Islamic education. Learning from that, we will improve the guidance and supervision at the pesantren," said Head of the Mataram City Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) HM Amin in Mataram, Monday. December 13, reported by Antara.

Amin explained that in Mataram City there are 21 Islamic boarding schools and so far there have never been cases of immorality found in the pesantren environment.

"Thank God, the operational boarding school in Mataram City is running well and has succeeded in graduating high-quality students and female students," he said.

However, the Indonesian Ministry of Religion asked the ranks of religious education institutions throughout Indonesia to carry out an investigation, and the Mataram Ministry of Religion was ready to carry out the instructions.

"For investigations, maybe it is specifically for pesantren where there are indications, but in Mataram, our efforts are to increase guidance and supervision," he said.

This means that the supervision that has been carried out periodically to pesantren, for example, once a month, has been increased to 2-3 times a month while conducting evaluations.

The Ministry of Religion has also planned to gather the leaders of Islamic boarding schools, but it is hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic rules which do not allow large numbers of meetings to be held.

But in general, his party has given directions so that the leadership of the pesantren also improves and carries out strict supervision both inside and outside of the activities of students, including their teachers.

"Thus, when we find indications of things that are not appropriate, early prevention can be done. For this, we are sure that all pesantren leaders understand, they just need to be reminded," he said.

Amin deeply regrets the rape incident by a pesantren teacher Herry Wirawan to 12 female students in Bandung, West Java.

"Whatever the reason, it should not happen because this tarnishes the world of Islamic education. Hopefully, there will be no more similar cases in other places," he said.