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Muhammadiyah to establish Islamic schools in Australia
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Center of excellence: The chairman of Muhammadiyah, Haedar Nashir (center), signs an inscription during the inauguration of the Nogotirto Da'wah building in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Sunday. Former chairman Ahmad Syafii Ma'arif witnessed the inscription-signing ceremony. (JP/Sri Wahyuni)
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ndonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, is set to establish an Islamic school in Melbourne, Australia, as part of its efforts to create more centers of excellence with a good reputation both at national and international levels.
Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir revealed the plan during the inauguration ceremony of the Nogotirto Da’wah building in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Sunday.
“We are now finishing the land acquisition and the legal aspect of the project construction. It is hoped we will have started the construction work by next year,” Haedar told The Jakarta Post.
At the construction project site, he said the Melbourne-chapter Muhammadiyah had a representative office building so that the development of the Islamic school would hopefully run smoothly.
Haedar said the school compound would be built on a 10-hectare area and would consist of a preschool, an elementary school, a junior high school and a senior high school.
Two models will be implemented in the schools. The first is for the local Muslim population in Australia. The second is for students of Indonesian families living there or for Indonesian students whose parents want to send them to study abroad.
Haedar also said in the long run, there would be a possibility for Muhammadiyah to establish a Muhammadiyah university in Australia.
“The chance is there because Muhammadiyah already has many universities, but currently we are focusing on the establishment of the elementary and high schools to make them competitive in terms of quality first,” he said. (ebf)
