Surabaya, NU Online
Member of the Nahdlatul Ulama Scholars Associaion (ISNU) Dr. Abdul Kadir Riyadi said that the birth of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) was indeed inseparable from a history of education throughout Indonesia, saying NU put it as a mainstream.<>

"The organizational tree of NU is full with such educational institutions as pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and maddrassa (Islamic schools), majlis taklim (religious study groups), including diniyyah (religious schools usually taking place in the afternoon," he told NU Online here on Monday.

The lecturer at the Surabaya's Sunan Ampel State Islamic University (UINSA) said that the NU's commitment to continue to keep education sector could be seen from its congresses having so far been held.

"The National Meeting of Nahdlatul Ulama in Pondok Gede Jakarta in 2002 for instance, resulted in so-called "Tausiyah Pondok Gede Tahun 2002" which attempts to reaffirm the position of education as the priority program of NU," Kadir  said.

"Not long afterwards, in the same year in Batu, Malang, East Java, NU formulated a strategic planning of Ma'arif Education Institution as well as for NU universities," he said, adding that in the forum, NU had redeveloped the format, strategies and guidelines in developing its education within the NU environment.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiiq