Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Research institute Kantata Research Indonesia has said Islamic boarding schools, especially non-mainstream ones, need to teach more work-based skills to prevent students from adopting radical teachings after graduation.
"Most Islamic boarding schools teach about peace. However, there is still a small percentage of schools that tolerate violence for the sake of religion," said M. Khoirul Muqtafa, social transformation director at Kantata Research Indonesia.
Students of the 16,000 Islamic boarding schools (Pesantren) in the country would be better off if they also acquired work-based skills, Khoirul told The Jakarta Post after a seminar on Islamic boarding schools and their role in solving conflict. "(Graduate students) mostly become instructors in other Islamic boarding schools after graduation," he said.
A minority of non-mainstream Islamic boarding schools were not run by branches of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) or Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations.
Khoirul did not deny that several Indonesian extremists, such as Basri, a perpetrator of violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and Amrozi, who was involved in the Bali bombing, had graduated from local Islamic boarding schools.
Many of the Islamic boarding schools' graduates adapted poorly to society because they had few skills with which to work, he said.
"Therefore, those who have been taught with rigid... theological teachings in their schools were prone to be 'abused' by radical doctrine, which includes strong anti-western views, after they graduated.
"I have met several teachers from Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. Many have become more protective of radicalism," he said.
Chairwoman of Muslimat NU – NU's women's wing – Khofifah Indar Parawansa said the majority of Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia were associated with Nahdlatul Ulama.
"It's hard to separate NU from Islamic boarding schools. A Pesantren is a small NU, while NU is a big pesantren. If people think of Muhammadiyah, then they associate it with formal education institutions," she told the Post.
Khofifah said she had yet to find any examples of extreme teachings inside Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, adding that their collective objective was to teach people to live in harmony.
"I am yet to find a student who has been taught to build bombs or implement radicalism. There is no data to support that. Even before Indonesia gained its independence, no Islamic boarding schools in the country taught anything destructive," she said.
"Not just Islamic schools, but all religious institutions in Indonesia teach their students to promote harmony. They are taught to manage conflict rather than make it bigger."
An instructor at Paramadina University, Bima Arya Sugiarto, said Islamic boarding school graduates should be given greater career opportunities after they completed their education.
"These graduates are mostly young people. It would be better if they could join a political party to channel their political aspirations, rather than being exposed to violent teachings," Bima said.