Said Aqil: NU should ideally return to pesantren

Jakarta, NU Online
As an institution, NU has increasingly been stronger along with high quality of Nahdliyin resources. What should now be conducted by NU is devoting all its forces to deal with the quality of Nahdliyin.

Chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Said Aqil Siradj made the remarks here Thursday, saying that the optimalization of educational institutions within the NU circles could be done by improving infrastructures of educational institutions especially in Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) and addressing the professionalism of educational individuals.<>

"The object of all NU concentrations is pesantren community. I have gone around  pesantren, NU communities throughout Indonesia and most of them expect NU to focus more on such fields as economy," Kang Said Said.

He further explained that NU would again pay its more attention to NU educational institutions in general and pesantren in particular.

All this, he said, was aimed at producing high quality individuals graduating from pesantren and giving them more easiness in meeting any emerging challenge.

"I am optimistic all this can be conducted  because NU does not have to start from zero," he said, adding that there had been  a pesantren in East Java, namely Pesantren Sidogiri, running its economic activities since 2007 and obtaining Rp 800 million per year in passive income. (min)