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any friends who are teachers in madrasah (Islamic schools) always complain that many parents are reluctant to send their children there. Every new school term, madrasah work hard to gain students.

In my district a new school in a rural area with poor facilities gained more students than a madrasah which was more established with better facilities. Nearby a new state senior high school that had no classrooms and used a state junior high school easily gained more students compared to the public madrasah.

In term of facilities such as school premises, teacher availability, government recognition, graduate competence and the like, madrasah are not as left behind as perceived. The Religious Affairs Ministry has launched many programs to lift the dignity of madrasah in recent years.

Secondary teacher scholarships are one of the prestigious programs where more than a 1,000 teachers are awarded master'€™s programs at top universities across the country to upgrade their knowledge and skills.

Similarly, madrasah get school operational aid (BOS) and other government aid, like other schools. Local administrations like West Java give the same amount of assistance in new class buildings and BOS

Recently, the ministry also launched a prestigious program called the Madrasah Riset Nasional (National Research-based Madrasah), a very ambitious program for students at secondary school level.

Through creative programs the decision makers hope that public interest toward madrasah will increase. Yet every academic year, people still perceive madrasah as an alternative '€” which means they do not put madrasah as the first priority.

The more money available to improve the quality of madrasah, the more public attention should be given to madrasah. Yet from parents'€™ opinions and madrasah managements people mostly still perceive madrasah as religious schools which mainly offer Islamic instruction so parents worry their children will not get the same opportunities in job offers and pursuing higher studies as graduates from secular schools.

This is a highly wrong perception since madrasah curriculum is the same as other schools and a huge number of its alumni study across various universities. Yet people tend to perceive madrasah generally as second-rate schools with poor facilities, unqualified and low-performing teachers and low managerial skills.

This might have been true a couple of years ago when madrasah did not receive equal treatment from the government as stipulated by the 2005 National Education Law, but generally madrasah have improved.

Apart from that, the term '€œmadrasah'€ is not popular either. I was surprised when I gave an assignment last year to my students to visit banks and other financial institutions in West Bogor regency, which is very well known as a center of Islamic education. A few respondents who were mostly bank clerks asked what MAN (Madrasah Aliyah Negeri or state secondary madrasah) stood for.

Therefore madrasah managements and decision makers should design an effective program to introduce madrasah to the public. Since madrasah have been transforming into better schools, it'€™s imperative to introduce them through good marketing. This also avoids ineffective programs and wasted money.
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The writer teaches economics at MAN Leuwiliang state Islamic senior high school, Bogor.