Government Targets Islamic Boarding Schools To Support Economic Growth, Expanded Financial Inclusion

Deputy for Macroeconomics and Finance Coordination Iskandar Simorangkir (left) during a visit to one of the Islamic boarding schools in West Java (Photo: Doc. Coordinating Ministry for the Economy)

JAKARTA – The government through the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy is increasingly entering the ecosystem of Islamic boarding schools to encourage economic growth as well as expand financial inclusion.

Deputy for Macroeconomic and Finance Coordination Iskandar Simorangkir said the implementation of the inclusive strategy was carried out through synergy and program collaboration as well as support from various stakeholders.

According to him, a number of activities that have taken place include the santripreneur training program by the Ministry of Industry, the delivery of facilitation for the development of youth entrepreneurship among Islamic boarding schools by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, an integrated community economic empowerment program, to the distribution of people's business loans (KUR) and the Pertashop collaboration by Pertamina.

"All of these programs are intended to support the empowerment of Islamic boarding schools so that they can be independent while empowering the surrounding community," he said in a statement during a working visit to Garut, quoted on Sunday, November 28.

Iskandar added, apart from being a da'wah institution, pesantren has a strategic position to empower the economy of the santri, kyai and the surrounding community. This assumption can be seen from the number of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia in 2020 there were 28,194 Islamic boarding schools with 44.2 percent of them having economic resources.

"It is hoped that this strategy can improve the welfare of all citizens," he said.

Iskandar explained that financial inclusion in Indonesia continues to increase during the pandemic. In 2020, 61.7 percent of account ownership and 81.4 percent of account usage were recorded. This is in line with the use of cellular-based electronic money which increased almost 2.5 times to 11.7 percent last year compared to the 2018 period which was only 4.7 percent.

“Financial inclusion means that all people must be touched by financial services. The society of the upper and lower groups is not distinguished in this context, they are all the same. The government hopes that all Islamic boarding schools can become the driving force of the national economy," he said.

On this occasion, Iskandar did not forget to urge all parties to continue to apply 3M and strict health protocols.

"Because this aspect of health is very important and inseparable in efforts to recover the national economy," he concluded.