42,000 Pesantren in Indonesia for 2024/2025, Concentrated in Java

Data from the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag), processed in an article by Muhammad Ishom, Rector of Sultan Maulana Banten State Islamic University (UIN), indicates that Indonesia has 42,433 active Islamic boarding schools (pondok pesantren) in the 2024/2025 academic year.

Based on their distribution, pesantren are still concentrated on Java Island. West Java ranks highest with 13,005 pesantren, followed by East Java with 7,347 pesantren, and Banten with 6,776 pesantren.

"This figure reflects that pesantren are a significant reality that cannot continue to be considered 'marginal' within the national education system," Ishom wrote in his article on September 23, 2025.

According to Ishom, the large number of pesantren is consistent with the quantity of students (santri) living and studying in them. The largest number comes from East Java, with a total of over 320 thousand resident students. This figure does not include hundreds of thousands of people who study on a non-residential basis.

"This means that pesantren have become a second home for millions of Indonesian youth—not only for religious learning but also for character building and life skills," Ishom wrote.

Ishom believes that many pesantren still face significant challenges. Most are still managed independently with limited facilities and minimal technological support. Furthermore, not all of their teaching staff are certified or hold a bachelor's degree.

Ishom advocates for more comprehensive regulation and supervision of pesantren through a Directorate General of Pesantren Affairs. In his view, this step is needed to ensure more focused pesantren development and to serve as a bridge between the government and the pesantren community.