The Proposal Of The Directorate General Of Islamic Boarding Schools, The DPR Asks For The Composition Of Depoksi To Be Relevant To Santri's Needs

Illustration of students (ANTARA)

JAKARTA Member of Commission VIII DPR RI, Maman Imanulhaq welcomed President Prabowo Subianto's move to approve the establishment of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Islamic Boarding Schools under the Ministry of Religion. Maman also suggested that the formulation or composition of the main tasks and functions (tupoksi) of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools should be relevant to the needs of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia.

"We appreciate President Prabowo Subianto's steps to form the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools. However, in order to be effective, it is necessary to arrange a main task force that is in accordance with the character and needs of Islamic boarding schools," said Maman Imanulhaq to reporters, Thursday, October 23.

According to Maman, formulation of tupoksi is an important guide in carrying out the operations of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools, ranging from policy preparation, implementation of technical guidance, to program evaluation. Without structured formulation, he is worried that the performance of the Directorate General will be inefficient and potentially miss the target.

"If the main task is not clear, the operation of the Directorate General can be ineffective and the target is not right," he said.

The PKB legislator hopes that the presence of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools can increase the state's attention to Islamic boarding schools-based educational institutions.

Based on data from the Ministry of Religion in 2024, there are 42,433 Islamic boarding schools with around 4.9 million students. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, said that around 80 percent of students in Islamic boarding schools came from extreme poor families.

"If the state pays more attention to pesantren, the impact will be felt directly on improving people's welfare," said Maman.

Maman also reminded the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools to work optimally according to the President's mandate. "We want President Prabowo's mandate to be carried out as well as possible in order to provide benefits and blessings, not only for pesantren, but also for the nation and state," he concluded.