Get to Know Pesantren, Islamic Boarding Schools in Indonesia

VIVA – Pesantren is one of the education institutions held in Indonesia. Especially for parents who want their children to have more religious knowledge. Pesantren has a school concept where students are required to study religion more deeply and have dormitories to stay in overnight.

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Students in pesantren are referred to as santri (male) and santriwati (female). The santri-santriwati are located in a complex that also provides a mosque for worship, rooms for study, and other religious activities. This complex is usually surrounded by a wall to be able to monitor the entry and exit of the students following applicable regulations.

Unfortunately, Indonesian pesantren have a bad image for some people because of the many cases about pesantren life. Keep in mind, not all pesantren have the bad image that is often perceived by the community.

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1. Pesantren is Dirty

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Ilustrasi santri di pesantren.

Photo :

• ANTARA FOTO/Irsan Mulyadi

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Some people said that pesantren has a bad image, such as dirty because many students have the disease. One of the diseases that usually occur in Pesantren is Gudikan. Gudikan itself is a skin disease that causes itching or what is commonly called scabies which seems to be a subscription disease. But turns out that nowadays many pesantren prioritize cleanliness.

 2. Underdeveloped Pesantren

The restriction of pesantren to free access to information and communication makes the image of this school seem less updated. In fact, the high flow of information in the present makes the opportunity for false information that actually misleads the current young generation. 

Important information about the global economic crisis was missed by the young generation due to the drowning of other unimportant information. However, these are only a few pesantren. Nowadays many pesantren facilitate digital access, newspapers, radio, and quality books for learners. 

3. Pesantren is Old-Fashioned and Technology-Starved

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Pesantren Ibnu Taimiyah

Photo :

• ibnutaimiyah.com

Pesantren is often identified with conservative or old-fashioned education methods, one of which is from the facilities and subjects. Pesantren seems to have no sophisticated facilities, subjects around programming, and restrictions on the use of gadgets and the internet.

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This certainly does not apply to all pesantren, because many have utilized various technological sophistication wisely and usefully, such as discipline points and various digitized systems.