Visiting South Thailand delegation says will adopt curriculum of Indonesia's Islamic boarding schools



A student in an Islamic boarding school in Yogyakarta reads a comic about tolerance published by non-governmental group Search for Common Ground (SFCG), which plans to distribute a total of 60,000 comic books to Islamic schools or pesantren across the country. (Photo courtesy of SFCG)

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali is planning to send Islamic preachers to help address the long-running ethnic separatist insurgency in South Thailand.

“There is an established cooperation between the Indonesian government through the Religious Affairs Ministry and Thailand,” Suryadharma said in Yogyakarta on Thursday night as quoted by Antara news agency during a meeting with an official delegation from South Thailand.

“The cooperation is on the education sector and preaching, which will bridge the two nations towards creating peace among the South Thailand society.”

Suryadharma said that he would send the preachers to Thailand during the Islamic fasting month, which begins in July.

He also said the Indonesian government would give scholarships to 50 students from South Thailand to study for master and doctorate degrees in Islamic universities in Indonesia.

“Education is one of the ways to prevent conflict,” he said. “We hope Indonesia can inspire South Thailand on this aspect.”

The South Thailand delegation, led by the secretary general of Thailand’s Southern Border Province Administrative Center (SBPAC), Lertkiat Wongpotipun, visited the state Islamic University of Sunan Kalijaga and the Al-Munawir boarding school in Krapyak, Yogyakarta, on Thursday.

Wongpotipun noted that while the boarding school curriculum was largely the same, the Indonesian curriculum was better as it combined religious science with general knowledge and skills training.

“We will implement the model so that students would be able to pursue further studies and work anywhere,” he said, according to Antara news agency.

The Al-Munawir school teacher, Nyai Ida Fatimah Zainal Abidin, told the South Thailand delegation that boarding schools also play a role in teaching harmonious inter-faith relations.

“We teach Islam which is ‘rahmatan lil alamin’ or which is able to live side by side with others and tolerance,” she was quoted as saying

Religious Minister to Send Islamic Preachers to South Thailand - The Jakarta Globe