Erwida Maulia, Surabaya – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched two education programs and announced he would dramatically increase spending on Islamic boarding schools during a visit to an Islamic school in Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday.

The visit came less than a week after Vice President Jusuf Kalla travelled to Kediri, East Java, where he was welcomed by a number of Muslim clerics and up to 12,000 students of Lirboyo Islamic School. Lirboyo clerics declared the Islamic boarding school had opened its door to the Golkar Party, which Kalla chairs.

Yudhoyono's visit to Assalafi Al Fithrah Islamic boarding school in Kenjeran, Surabaya, was part of the President's two-day tour of East Java, which follows a series of trips outside of Java, including to Batam, West Papua and Bali.

In many areas, supporters of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party waved the party's blue, white and red flag on roads as Yudhoyono drove by.

Watched by thousands of clerics, students and local residents outside of Assalafi Al Fithrah Islamic boarding school, Yudhoyono launched a reconstruction program for state schools and a scholarship program to help poor students attend Islamic schools.

He announced the disbursement of Rp 1.7 billion for the reconstruction of six Islamic boarding schools in Surabaya, South Sumatra's Palembang, South Kalimantan's Banjarmasin, West Nusa Tenggara's Central Lombok and South Sulawesi's Jeneponto. Scholarships were awarded to three Islamic school students.

The President was accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and several cabinet ministers, including Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni, National Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo, and Communications and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh.

Maftuh said the two programs had been priorities of the Religious Affairs Ministry. He said the ministry planned to reconstruct about 26,000 classrooms of Islamic schools and provide scholarships for up to 1.5 million poor Islamic school students.

Maftuh said the aid was possible because the Religious Affairs Ministry's budget had been increased to Rp 23 trillion this year from Rp 14 trillion last year. He said the increase was possible because more money had been allocated for the education sector than ever before.

The 2009 state budget is the first in the country's history to comply with a Constitutional decree requiring the state to allocate 20 percent of its total spending on education.

Yudhoyono said 2009 was a "historical" year because Indonesia could for the first time earmark 20 percent of its total expenditures for education.

"We can even allocate more than Rp 200 trillion for the education sector, which means the amount that the Religious Affairs Ministry will receive will sharply increase too," the President said.

"Whoever governs us, whether at the local or central level, let's pray that this program will continue and run well."