Ministry Of Religion Hopes Presidential Decree Of The Directorate General Of Islamic Boarding Schools Will Be Issued Before The Substitution Of The Year

Secretary of the Directorate General of Islamic Education of the Ministry of Religion, Arskal Salim. BETWEEN / Asep Firmansyah

The Ministry of Religion hopes that Presidential Regulation (Perpres) regarding the establishment of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools (Ditjen Pesantren) can be issued before the turn of the year, especially since the initiative permit has been approved by President Prabowo Subianto.

"Our hope is that everything will be finished in 2025. As soon as possible, it will be a year-end gift. So that in 2026 it can go directly," said Secretary of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Religion, Arskal Salim in Lampung, Antara, Thursday, November 6.

The plan to establish the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools is part of institutional restructuring within the Ministry of Religion.

Later, he said, the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools will take over the functions that have been under the Directorate of Early Education and Islamic Boarding Schools at the Directorate General of Islamic Education.

This step is also part of the Ministry of Religion's commitment to strengthen the role of Islamic boarding schools as centers of education, da'wah, and community empowerment.

So far, said Arskal, pesantren is managed by work units at the Echelon II level under the Directorate General of Islamic Education. The Ministry of Religion sees the need for strengthening and structuring institutions so that pesantren education can develop according to its own characteristics and methodology.

The establishment of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools has gone through a number of important stages, including a letter from the Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) to the Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) which ordered the acceleration of its institutional process.

The Ministry of Religion proposes five directorates and one secretariat in the structure that will fill the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools.

According to him, the determination of the official who will lead the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools will be under the authority of the President. He is optimistic that this year the structure of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools will be completed soon.

"Later, there will be a rearrangement, what will it look like now. Now we are waiting for the Presidential Decree that is being prepared," said Arskal.

Previously, the Minister of Religion (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar said the establishment of the Directorate General of Islamic Boarding Schools could not be separated from President Prabowo's attention to this typical Islamic educational institution of the archipelago.

According to him, President Prabowo has many opportunities for development and support for the pesantren world. The government wants to ensure that pesantren have a strategic position and a strong institutional structure under the Ministry of Religion.

"Many of his steps have strengthened Islamic boarding schools, including promising to upgrade Islamic boarding schools that were previously managed by the director to become a directorate general," said Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar.