A number of scholars, actors of Islamic religious education won annual awards from the Ministry of Religion. In addition, they also include those who take part in Islamic boarding schools and madrasahs, as well as religion teachers in public schools
"Alhamdulillah, this is a whip for us to continue working for the nation," said KH Masyhuri Mughni, caretaker of Pontren Benda Brebes, Central Java, one of the award winners.
The same thing was stated by KH Azis Mashuri, caretaker of the Aziziyah Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java and KH Mahrus Amin, caretaker of Pontren Darun Najah Jakarta. They expressed their gratitude for an agency that had great attention to development in the fields of religion and education.
"We hope that this award can motivate us to further scratch our achievements," said Minister of Religion Suryadharma Ali at the Appreciation Night for the Islamic Education Sector in Jakarta, Sunday (2/1) night.
On this occasion, the Minister of Religion accompanied by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Religion Bahrul Hayat and the Director General of Islamic Education Mohammad Ali directly gave the award recipients not less than 90 people, including KH Azis Mashuri, caretaker of the Aziziyah Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java; and KH Mahrus Amin, caretaker of Pontren Darun Najah Jakarta; and KH Masyhuri Mughni, caretaker of Pontren Benda Brebes, Central Java.
The Minister of Religion said that many parties misunderstood that the Ministry of Religion only manages Hajj. In fact, from the state budget side, the hajj budget is smaller than the education budget within the Ministry of Religion of Rp. 27 trillion.
"From comments in the community about the implementation of the haj, it seems as if the Ministry of Religion has no other function except for Haj. We need to remind this ministry to manage education with a large budget and I am sure that it increases from year to year, ”said the Minister of Religion.
He said, as part of religious and religious education, Islamic education with its various variants has been institutionalized and even rooted in society in this country. The role and contribution of society in the implementation and development of Islamic education is very large.
"Therefore, the task of the state through our ministry is to facilitate and provide further strengthening so that Islamic education can advance according to the needs of society and the times," he said.
Increase Budget
In this context, said the Minister of Religion, we allocate a very large portion of the budget for education in the Ministry of Religion State Budget, and every year it has increased significantly.
"Thus, in this very good opportunity I call on all levels of the Ministry of Religion, especially those dealing with the education sector, especially Islamic Education, to continue to improve the quality of its services, and carry out this great mandate honestly, professionally, with a full sense of responsibility and accountable, "said the Minister of Religion.
He also hopes, with the increasing education budget, it is hoped that the quality of education will also increase, in line with the age of the Ministry of Religion which has reached 65 years as the age that has maturity in guarding society, especially realizing Indonesian people who are religious, independent, physically and mentally prosperous. .
To religious teachers, the Minister of Religion appealed to make a breakthrough in their respective schools by adding extra-curricular religious lessons. (Suara Karya Online). *
