Building Trustworthy and Violence-Free Islamic Boarding Schools, UNU Jogja Facilitates the Development of Child Safeguarding Guidelines

Yogyakarta, Indonesia - As a Nahdlatul Ulama-affiliated university, Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta (UNU Jogja) places strong emphasis on the transformation of pesantren including efforts to strengthen child protection. To support this initiative, UNU Jogja hosted a Workshop on Developing Child Safeguarding Guidelines for Islamic Boarding Schools at its campus on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.

The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Yogyakarta Special Region Office for Women's Empowerment, Child Protection, Population Control, and Family Planning (DP3AP2KB DIY), the Child- and Women-Friendly Pesantren Task Force of PWNU DIY, and the Rabithah Ma'ahid Islamiyah (RMI) of PWNU DIY.

A Step Toward Educational Transformation

UNU Jogja Vice Rector for Pesantren Affairs, Dr. Abdul Ghoffar, said that developing child safeguarding guidelines is in line with the commitment of educational institutions, including UNU Jogja, to create safe and supportive learning environments.

More importantly, he emphasized that the initiative represents part of the broader transformation of pesantren and educational institutions, which must be carried out comprehensively—from institutional management to strengthening public perception, particularly among younger generations.

"Adopting a transformative mindset will be one of the greatest challenges for pesantren in the future. Islamic boarding schools need to embrace change in order to identify and address practices that are still inadequate or problematic," he said.

Ghoffar expressed hope that the workshop would produce comprehensive child safeguarding guidelines for Islamic boarding schools. He also encouraged the outcomes to be widely disseminated so the public could recognize pesantren's commitment to preventing violence.

"For too long, we have not sufficiently highlighted the strengths of pesantren, leading many people to perceive them as outdated. These SOPs should be widely promoted to demonstrate that pesantren have made significant progress in this area," he added.

Working Together to Address the "Tip of the Iceberg"

Arif Nasrudin, Acting Head of the Women's Protection and Special Child Protection Division at DP3AP2KB DIY, explained that the workshop was a follow-up to the commitment of various stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Religious Affairs and RMI, to prevent violence against children in Islamic boarding schools.

He noted that the initiative is especially important given the high number of child violence cases in the Yogyakarta Special Region. DP3AP2KB DIY assists between 1,000 and 1,500 child victims of violence each year, with 1,152 child victims recorded in 2025.

"These figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, as many victims still do not report their experiences," he said.

According to Arif, such cases also affect Yogyakarta's reputation as Indonesia's City of Education. Following the Governor's directive, DP3AP2KB DIY has been instructed to intensify preventive efforts in institutions serving children, including pesantren.

"Preventing violence against children cannot be accomplished by our agency alone. It requires collaboration with all stakeholders—from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and major organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama to pesantren networks and universities like UNU Jogja," he explained.

A Commitment to Becoming Trustworthy Islamic Boarding Schools

Muhammad Nizam Yahya, Chair of RMI PWNU DIY, welcomed the willingness of Islamic boarding schools across the region to participate in drafting child safeguarding SOPs. He acknowledged that pesantren are currently facing challenges due to several cases involving problematic institutions.

However, he emphasized that these isolated incidents have affected the public image of pesantren as a whole, even though the vast majority provide quality education and maintain healthy learning environments. Unfortunately, negative information about a small number of institutions spreads rapidly through social media.

"We are responding through the development of these SOPs and reaffirming our commitment to making Islamic boarding schools trustworthy educational institutions," he stated.

The interactive workshop was attended enthusiastically by dozens of pesantren leaders from across the Yogyakarta Special Region. Participants also shared best practices for preventing violence, including providing access to counselors and psychologists, conducting training for boarding school administrators, and installing CCTV systems.

The workshop was facilitated by psychologist Maya Fitria and LP3M UNU Jogja researchers Yusnita Ike Christanti and Saeroni, who presented sessions on SOPs for preventing child protection violations and procedures for handling child safeguarding cases within Islamic boarding schools. [Arif]