Schools in East Java Must Be Strong to Face Covid-19

Detiktoday.com – The House of Representatives Commission VIII has approved a budget for pesantren operational assistance, operational assistance for madrasa diniyah takmiliyah (MDT), operational assistance for the Koran educational institution (LPQ), and online learning assistance for pesantren in the amount of Rp 2.6 trillion. Deputy Chairman of Commission VIII Moekhlas Sidik explained, the budget that had been approved by Commission VIII was utilized as much as possible to make madrasa management and pesantren resilient in facing the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in East Java.

“This budget policy approved by Commission VIII must be utilized as much as possible to make madrasa management and pesantren resilient to face the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in East Java Province,” Moekhlas said when chairing a meeting of the House of Representatives Commission VIII Recess Team in the Mosque Merah Moeklas Sidik, Pandaan, Pasuruan, East Java, Monday (7/20/2020).

The agenda of the Kunker meeting was held with the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion of East Java accompanied by the Director General of Islamic Education and the Director of the Islamic Boarding School of the Directorate General of the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, who took the theme of the discussion ‘Handling the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in Islamic Boarding Schools and Madrasas.

The politician from the Gerindra Party faction explained that the aim of the Commission VIII Working Visit to East Java, needed to know about handling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on madrasa and pesantren management. Moreover, madrassas and pesantren have begun a new school year, although madrasas and pesantren can be a cluster of the spread of Covid-19. “Information and data handling on the impact of Covid-19 on the management of madrassas and pesantren will be used as a reference for Commission VIII in formulating policy recommendations to the Indonesian Ministry of Religion,” said Moekhlas.

Moekhlas explained that the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic came to the attention of Commission VIII, because it also had an impact on madrasa management and pesantren. For example, the teaching and learning process in madrassas and Islamic boarding schools that initially went offline or face to face became online or virtual.

So to minimize the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the management of madrassas and pesantren, Commission VIII has agreed to refocusing the first phase madrasah budget through a revised budget of Rp 9,183 and refocusing the first phase pesantren budget of Rp 203 million.