Pesantren: Suatu Alternatif Model Lembaga Pendidikan Kader Bangsa

Abstract

Pesantren, or Islamic Boarding School, is the oldest formal education institution in Indonesia. Special community is living on the Pesantren and lead by a ‘kyai’. To run Pesantren, Kyai as religious and community leader is assisted by some teachers. They live together with students or santri. In this kind of community, the mosque becomes center of teaching and learning process, other than classical classroom (madrasah). It is interesting to trace the development of Pesantren against time, as people seen nowadays. When science and technology reshape public expectation concerning the position, function, and regulation of Pesantren, this Islamic institution has to respond it in the right manner. By developing content and reshaping its form, several modern pesantren has succesfully transformed traditional pesantren.