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View all search resultsModern education, old habits
If anything, such scrutiny is mandatory if the institution in question gets funding from the state or receives a permit from the government to run their operation.
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A student recites the Quran at the Lirboyo mosque. It is a routine activity for students at the boarding school. JP/Sigit Pamungkas. (JP/Sigit Pamungkas)
In a modern democracy, no institution, secular or religious, should be exempt from public scrutiny.
If anything, such scrutiny is a must if the institution in question gets funding from the state or receives a permit from the government to run their operation.
The degree of oversight should in fact be greater if such an institution handles the dispensing of basic services such as health care and education.
Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), are such an institution. In fact, in Indonesia, Islamic boarding schools are an institution in the truest sense of the word.
Long before the birth of the modern nation-state of Indonesia, these traditional Islamic boarding schools were the only way for common people, especially in the country’s rural regions, to get access to education.
The Dutch colonial government never had any intention to provide education for the masses before the late 19th century, so for most people, going to these traditional schools was the only way for them to get a basic education.
Even after Indonesia gained independence, these traditional schools continued to play a major role in education as the new nation’s bureaucracy could not build a modern infrastructure for education fast enough.
