Support for Islamic Schools to Continue despite Budget Limits: Indonesia Gov’t
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has reiterated its commitment to strengthening services and support for Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens), despite budget constraints and the government's national budget efficiency policy.
"The budget may be limited, but our commitment remains unchanged," Endi Suhendi Zen, an official from the ministry’s Pesantren Directorate, said on Tuesday.
He noted that only around 5,100 of the country’s approximately 42,000 pesantrens have so far received business incubation assistance through the ministry’s Pesantren Independence Program.
This year, around 1,000 more Islamic boarding schools are expected to benefit from the program.
"We want to do more, but we must understand that our budget is limited," Zen said.
He urged pesantren administrators to complete all necessary steps in updating their institutional data with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
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According to Zen, poor data management has become a major barrier to support. Many pesantrens have not digitally updated information on their students, teachers, and facilities, which in turn affects the allocation of government assistance.
"Government funding is often difficult to disburse because the data is not synchronized," he explained.
Zen praised several pesantrens that have successfully modernized without losing their identity as Islamic educational institutions.
Source: en.antaranews.com
