Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat said the National Santri Day, which is annually commemorated on October 22, is a momentum to increase the role of santri (students of Islamic boarding schools) in national development.

Character education that santri receive at pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) is one of the essential factors for Indonesia's human resources development, she said here Sunday.

"Amid the current changes that occur in various sectors of life, the presence of human resources who have strong and noble characters is highly needed to respond to various challenges that emerge," she said.

To this end, efforts to improve the quality of pesantren across the country are deemed necessary, and need to become a serious concern of stakeholders.

Moerdijat also noted that santri must be equipped with strong national values to foster their spirit of nationalism.

This, she continued, is in accordance with the theme of this year's Santri Day commemoration namely "Santri's Jihad to Advance the Nation".

According to the MPR deputy speaker, the theme encouraged the santri to engage optimally in the national development processes.

She also encouraged stakeholders at the central and regional levels to be consistent in building a good educational ecosystem in pesantren as the Islamic boarding schools also play an important role in developing qualified human resources.

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Translator: Laily Rahmawaty, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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