October 4, 2025 | 02:43 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) acknowledges that several traditional Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia were built without following formal procedures beforehand. These traditional boarding schools were mostly established based on community self-help efforts and the guardians of the students.
"Therefore, Kemenag is committed to promoting mitigation by identifying and assessing the potential problematic buildings of boarding schools," said the Head of the Public Relations and Public Communication Bureau of Religious Affairs Ministry, Thobib Al Asyhar, in an official statement on Friday, October 3, 2025.
Thobib mentioned that the collapse of the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School building in Sidoarjo, East Java, has become a crucial moment that has made Kemenag more attentive to the security and feasibility aspects of boarding school buildings. Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school collapsed on Monday, September 2025, trapping hundreds of students who were performing the Asr prayers in the building.
Thobib acknowledged that this tragic event occurred due to weaknesses in the building. Therefore, he emphasized that Religious Ministry urges all boarding school managers to comply with the applicable construction procedures, especially regarding building permits (IMB).
"All buildings must be licensed in principle, not just boarding schools. The regulations are already in place; it's just a matter of compliance to avoid risks," he said.
Thobib promised that in the future, the Religious Affairs Ministry will tighten supervision over the construction process at boarding schools. Despite not having the technical authority to assess building feasibility, he stated that they will coordinate with other ministries, including the Ministry of Public Works and People's Housing (PUPR), to help oversee the safety of the facilities built.
In the same statement, the Religious Affairs Ministry expressed condolences for the dozens of victims in the incident at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School. It was mentioned that the Minister of Religious Affairs, Nasaruddin Umar, had also visited the incident site directly.
According to Thobib, the Minister not only expressed sympathy but also thoroughly understood the causes of the tragedy. "Minister Nasaruddin Umar sees that there are many things that need to be improved in the future. This serves as a lesson for all boarding schools to truly pay attention to construction with the comfort and safety of the students," he said.
The boys' dormitory of Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school collapsed while the students were performing the congregational Asr prayer on the second floor, which functioned as a prayer room. According to Abdul Salam Mujib, the caretaker of the boarding school, the collapsed building was still under renovation.
"As far as I know, the last concrete pouring was done this morning till noon," Mujib told the media in Sidoarjo on Monday, September 29, 2025.
Around 3:00 p.m., the newly poured roof suddenly collapsed, trapping hundreds of students who were praying on the second floor. Those in the prayer room were also trapped under the debris.
The incident allegedly occurred because the building's foundation was not sturdy. As of Friday, October 3, 2025, a total of 167 victims were recorded. Among them, 118 were found, with 103 surviving, 14 deceased, and one returning home without requiring medical treatment.
Additionally, 14 surviving victims are still undergoing intensive care in hospitals, 89 have been allowed to return home, and one has been referred to a hospital in Mojokerto. However, 49 others, based on the boarding school attendance list, are still being searched for by the joint search and rescue team.
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