REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Pondok pesantren is now more free to choose the form of education that suits the character and needs. This institution of islamic education is not obligatory to apply and build formal school that refers to national education system. 

With full government recognition of pesantren, whatever education they have will be able to graduate from school ready for college or work in various institution or company.

The secretary of the Masyayikh Assembly, Ministry of Religion, Muhyiddin Khotib, said that at present boarding schools do not have to organise full formal education, but can do with a book teaching approach.

Whatever the form of education they apply, will remain government cognizant, so the diploma is equivalent to formal education.

“The boarding school has contributed to enlightening the nation from the time of colonization hundred years ago to the time of reform to the present. However, in the era of the new order, boarding schools are not recognized and excluded from the National Education System (Sisdikens), therefore boarding school graduates are not recognized with their diplomas, so they must pass the equality exam if they want to attend college or continue to the formal level,” said Kiai Muhyiddin in Socialization Act (UU) Number 18 of 2019 on Pesantren in Pondok Pesantren Lirboyo, Kediri, East Java, Sunday (19/11/2023).

Kiai Muhyiddin said that in the time of the new order, many boarding schools had to compromise with the government, by changing their education to formal SD-High School or Madrasah Ibtidaiyah to Madrasah Aliyah.

The bet is that the old educational method that became the mainstay of boarding schools, that is, bandungan and sorogan became unused. Then the boarding schools switched to formal schools that followed the government curriculum, so the quality dropped.

“But at this time the era of internment is over, with the promulgation of Law No. 18 of 2019 on Boarding Schools. The boarding school is given the freedom to organize its own education without having to follow the curriculum of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education. The school does not have to be formal, the syllabus is free, the system, the hours of admission, and the rules are also free,” said Kiai Muhyiddin.

He said that boarding houses were asked to show again the quality of boarding school education, which has long been known to excel in religious sciences. The Masyayikh Assembly recommended a scripture-based fixed boarding school curriculum.

The government has opened its eyes that boarding school products are no worse, so there needs to be no equalisation. It is precisely the products of boarding schools that have more advantages than the products of state schools.

Kiai Muhyiddin said that the main issue today is quality, not recognition. Currently boarding school graduates can continue their education or apply for a job anywhere using a diploma from the boarding school. About its quality is currently being built a quality assurance system by the Masyayikh Assembly.

Chairman of the Masyayikh Assembly, KH Abdul Ghaffar Rozin said, now is the time for boarding schools to improve their quality as much as possible, without turning to formal schools. The quality of the boarding school will refer to the Boarding School Quality Assurance System (SPM) Document that was only last week launched.

Basically, the Masyayikh Assembly sought to implement three key words of the Pesantren Act, namely recognisation, facilitation, and affirmation. Recognisi means the recognition by the state of the boarding school, from the curriculum to the diploma of its graduates, so that there are no more rejections from one party to the boarding school alumni.

“We hope that in the future, there will be no more cases of rejection against Ma'had Aly graduates who want to continue their Master's degree in college,” said Gus Rozin.

Gus Rozin said that with regard to facilitation it is already the obligation of local authorities to help boarding schools in technical matters. Meanwhile on the affirmation aspect, he called on governments and local governments to make policies that benefit boarding schools politically.

“So we are striving for each region to have a Pesantren Perda. Thus there is a reason for the local government to give attention and also the budget to the boarding school,” he said.

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