UNU Jogja Informatics Student Develops SIMONTU to Accelerate Digital Transformation at Nurul Iman Islamic Boarding School in Riau

Yogyakarta, Indonesia – An Informatics student from the Faculty of Information Technology at Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta (UNU Jogja), Andre Fratama, has developed SIMONTU (Integrated Monitoring System), a digital platform designed to enhance the management of Islamic boarding schools (pesantren). The application was created as part of a project-based learning initiative to address the growing need for digital transformation in pesantren administration.

SIMONTU was developed through a community engagement collaboration with Nurul Iman Islamic Boarding School in Riau. The system aims to improve administrative efficiency, transparency, and institutional management by integrating various services into a single digital platform.

The project was initiated in response to several challenges commonly faced by pesantren, including manual attendance recording, the risk of administrative data loss, limited transparency in student financial management, difficulties in monitoring students' academic and spiritual development, and ineffective communication between the boarding school and parents.

To address these issues, SIMONTU digitalizes key administrative processes and provides several integrated features, including real-time barcode-based student attendance, transparent financial and savings information, monitoring of academic performance and Qur'an memorization progress, as well as a dedicated parent portal that enables guardians to monitor their children's development remotely.

The system adopts a multi-role access mechanism, allowing different users to access features based on their responsibilities. User roles include administrators, Islamic boarding school teachers (ustadz), formal school teachers, cashiers, and parents, ensuring that each stakeholder receives relevant information and services.

To date, SIMONTU has successfully implemented operational modules for ustadz, including attendance management and Qur'an memorization tracking. Development is ongoing for additional modules, such as an administrator dashboard, attendance management for formal school teachers, a cashless payment system, and a comprehensive parent monitoring dashboard.

The development of SIMONTU reflects the project-based learning approach implemented in the Informatics Study Program at UNU Jogja. Through this learning model, students are encouraged not only to master software development skills but also to create practical digital solutions that address real-world challenges in society.

Beyond strengthening students' technical competencies in system development, the project also equips them with experience in user needs analysis, multi-user system architecture, and application development for real institutional environments.

The implementation of SIMONTU is expected to improve administrative services within the Islamic boarding school, strengthen transparency in institutional management, accelerate student progress monitoring, and foster stronger communication between the pesantren and students' parents.

As a university in Yogyakarta committed to driving digital innovation and technology development for community needs, UNU Jogja continues to encourage students to produce impactful technological solutions. Through SIMONTU, Informatics students demonstrate how digital innovation can support the modernization of Islamic boarding school management while contributing to sustainable digital transformation in the education sector. [Latifah]