PPIM Research: Islamic boarding schools need support to strengthen their resilience in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

Rectorate, UIN News Online –  Islamic boarding schools (Pesantren) are prone to clusters of various infectious diseases, including the transmission of Covid-19 due to many people from diverse regions come to live together for a long time in the same place. Various supports for Islamic boarding schools to strengthen their resilience to exposure to the pandemic are absolutely necessary.

These are the conclusions of the research results of PPIM UIN Jakarta entitled “Dampak dan Ketahanan Institusi Pendidikan Lanjutan Tingkat Atas di Pesantren saat Krisis Pandemi COVID-19: Studi 15 Pesantren wilayah Jakarta, Banten, dan Jawa Barat”. The research was disseminated online through Zoom application on Wednesday (01/19/2022).

The research was conducted in 15 Islamic boarding schools in Jakarta, Banten and West Java during July-November 2021 by involving 819 respondents for questionnaire and 132 informants for interviews and focus group discussions.

The Coordinator of Islamic Boarding School and Pandemic Research, Laifa Annisa Hendarmin, Ph.D, said that ideally, kyai and santri in Islamic boarding schools should have their own space so that they are not easily exposed to infection. That way, they can be safer from the virus exposure.

“However, based on the research we did, there are several things that need to be considered, one of them is the inflow and outflow of pesantren residents. Others, the presence of the surrounding community who enter the pesantren environment by jointly using pesantren facilities such as mosques for congregational prayers,” she said.

Laifa also revealed that the pesantren itself had made a good effort in responding to the pandemic by continuing to carry out teaching and learning process for its students. However, the responses taken were also very varied.

Furthermore, Laifa said, the issues that developed during the pandemic also had an impact on the students  mental health aspects. In this case, the research found that students experienced mild to severe depression.

The research team's analysis also showed that students experienced more symptoms of depression than teachers. Likewise, women experience more symptoms of depression than men.

A member of the research team, Ida Rasyidah, added that the strength of Islamic boarding schools in estagblishing resilience during the pandemic cannot be separated from a number of determinant factors. Among them are resources, management, networks, and pesantren leaders.

“These four factors are able to bring health and education resilience in Islamic boarding schools,” said Ida.

In addition, he added, the pandemic situation also encouraged the social transformation of women in the pesantren. These women contributed to the role of mothering, health promotion, straightening out conspiracy issues, and building the necessary networks.

Furthermore, the research also offers a number of recommendations. Among them, the need for a comprehensive and applicable policy roadmap on health development in Islamic boarding schools. “Resource improvement, both in health and education sector are considered necessary in order to strengthen the resilience of Islamic boarding schools in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. (zm/usa)