Clarification Of Ridwan Kamil's Statement, Ministry Of Religion Denies Providing Aid Funds To Al-Zaytun Islamic Boarding School

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Religion Anna Hasbie. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) dismissed the statement by the Governor of West Java (Jabar) Ridwan Kamil which said that the Ministry of Religion always provided billions of rupiah assistance per year to the Al Zaytun Islamic Boarding School.

"We have never provided aid funds to Al Zaytun," said Ministry of Religion spokesman Anna Hasbie as reported by ANTARA, Friday, June 23.

Anna said Al Zaytun manages madrasas starting from the Ibtidaiyah (MI), Tsanawiyah (MTs), to Aliyah (MA) levels. Data at the Ministry of Religion's Education Management Information System (EMIS) noted that there were 1,289 MI students, 1,979 MTs students, and 1,746 MA students, who studied at the pesantren.

The budget that goes to Al Zaytun is not a special assistance fund for Islamic boarding schools, but a School Operational Assistance (BOS) fund that is the right of students. According to regulations, BOS is given to students, not only at Al Zaytun Islamic Boarding Schools.

"According to regulations, these students are entitled to BOS. This applies to all students studying at madrasa and meeting the requirements. So that it is our obligation, the government, to fulfill their learning rights through BOS," said Anna.

He emphasized that BOS funds are programs carried by the government to help schools in Indonesia to provide more optimal learning. The assistance provided is in the form of funds for school purposes, such as maintaining facilities and infrastructure to buying multimedia tools to support teaching and learning activities.

"We appeal to public officials when talking about data-based. If BOS funds are the right of students, all are the same. Students in this country all receive BOS funds. So don't let Mr. Ridwan Kamil say that the Ministry of Religion provides billions of aid to AlZaytun even though it's BOS funds. It has been wrong to head over it," he said.

According to Anna, in general there are two requirements that must be met by madrasas in order to receive BOS. First, the madrasa must have an operational permit of at least one year. "MI, MTs, and MA, which are in Al Zaytun, have met these requirements," he said.

The second requirement is that madrasas and their students are recorded in the data collection system developed by the Ministry of Religion, namely EMIS and updating data in the system.

This requirement is also fulfilled by MI, MTs, and MA in Al Zaytun. Especially this year, plus one requirement, madrasas are not in an internal conflict.

"So according to the mandate of the regulation, because they meet the requirements, MI, MTs, and MA students there are entitled to BOS funds," he said.

Anna said that some BOS funds had been disbursed in the first phase. For the rest, studies are still being carried out on various findings currently developing at the Al Zaytun Islamic Boarding School.