Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – The Ministry of Religious Affairs is currently updating the national religious education data. To date, 4.634 million students (santri) at Islamic boarding schools are verified through a by-name-by-address mechanism.
These students come from Islamic boarding schools, in addition to informal Islamic educational institutions such as Madrasah Diniyah Takmiliyah (MDT) and Al-Quran Education Institutions (LPQ).
Data collection remains ongoing, the ministry said; hence, it does not yet reflect the entire santri population.
The Director General of Islamic Boarding Schools at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Basnang Said, stated that current data collection no longer relies solely on aggregate figures, but rather focuses on individual data that can be verified based on the students' identities and actual presence. "Every student's data must be verified based on their identity, address, and active status," he said on Sunday.
Based on the Ministry of Religious Affairs' Data and Information Center (Pusdatin) data cut-off date, 4,634,406 students have been collected and verified in the data collection process. This data will continue to grow as the verification and consolidation process continues.
According to Basnang, this updating process is part of the ministry' efforts to build a more accurate, integrated, and accountable database of Islamic boarding schools and students. During this process, the Ministry of Religious Affairs is also eliminating potential duplicates in the previous aggregated data.
The ministry is also conducting internal consolidation of data on Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) and madrasahs (Islamic schools). This is facilitated by the National Education Unit Identification Number (NPSN) for salafiyah Islamic boarding schools and non-formal education units, and by finalizing data synchronization with the Education Master Data (Dapodik) of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Updating BNBA data is necessary to ensure government programs are delivered effectively. Accurate data is essential, among other things, for the distribution of the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP), Santri Scholarships, and various forms of government assistance and support for Islamic boarding schools and educators.
The data transformation and consolidation process continues until a more comprehensive picture of Islamic boarding school educational units and the student population is obtained. The updated data is expected to form the basis for planning more targeted Islamic boarding school policies and programs starting in the 2026/2027 academic year.