BOGOR, WEST JAVA — Comparative studies are quality improvement and system improvement, an important step for schools that want to improve the quality of education. On Tuesday (20/8/2024) Islamic Bilingual School (IBS) Al Ikhlas, a developing school in Indonesia, visited SMART Ekselensia, a zakat-based flagship school managed by Dompet Dhuafa. This visit aims to learn best practices in managing zakat-based education to inspire the development of IBS Al Ikhlas.
SMART Ekselensia has succeeded in creating a conducive and innovative learning environment, where students can develop optimally. With a holistic and quality-oriented approach, SMART Ekselensia is a model for IBS Al Ikhlas in integrating innovation with a learning atmosphere that supports academic and character progress.
Some best practices that can be adopted by IBS Al-Ikhlas:
- Integrated Curriculum: SMART Ekselensia combines academic curriculum with character and leadership development. SMART Ekselensia has various series of teaching and learning activities while developing leadership, both from soft skills and academic development. The scope of knowledge, skills and leadership is built through the learning process as well as habituation through classes and dormitories. The process of instilling leadership spirit has begun to be internalized since students arrive at Bumi Pengembangan Insani, SMART Ekselensia classrooms and dormitories.
- Character Development Program: SMART Ekselensia has strong programs to develop students’ characters, such as leadership, ethics, and social responsibility. Strengthening the spirit of leadership through various habits is implemented in the SMART Ekselensia dormitory environment. Activities begin with the implementation of daily worship, providing a spiritual foundation for students. They are then involved in Arabic/English mentoring and coaching for linguistic skill development. In addition, the implementation of 5R (Rapi, Resik, Rajin, Rawat, Ringkas) in the dormitory encourages a culture of cleanliness and environmental responsibility.
- Quantum Teaching Learning Method: Quantum Teaching introduces dynamic teaching methods, while the heads of libraries and laboratories at SMART Ekselensia Junior and Senior High Schools provide access to the resources and facilities students need.
- Hard and Soft Skill Development: In addition to leadership skill development, SMART Ekselensia students also engage in soft skill development such as grooming, public speaking, and debate, while acquiring practical skills such as sewing, shoe soling, and hair shaving as part of the hard skills taught. The PDK (Basic Leadership Training) program series 2 to series 7 provides broad insights ranging from organizational management to entrepreneurship, including gardening and village activities in the internship program.
- Interest development space: SMART Ekselensia provides space for the development of interests for students, various extracurricular activities are present to color the learning process of students. These activities include various competitions, performance, book sharing, and organization management (OASE), as well as aspects of discipline, graduation, and Scouting, strengthening students’ leadership skills and knowledge. National defense and participation in extracurricular activities, along with the OHARA (Observation, Habit, Attitude, Reliability, Adaptability) program, enrich students’ experience and knowledge.
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During the visit, 12 school administrators and teachers from IBS Al-Ikhlas, led by Director Herdi Nurdin, visited Dompet Dhuafa’s Human Development Center. Nurdin stated that SMART Ekselensia has become a source of inspiration for developing schools such as IBS Al-Ikhlas, with many ideas and advantages that can be applied to the progress of their schools.
“Thank you to Dompet Dhuafa for facilitating us from IBS Al-Ikhlas for a comparative study or copycat study at SMART Ekselensia. SMART Ekselensia is one of the reference schools for schools like ours that are developing, IBS has three education units for kindergarten, elementary and junior high school. From the presentation of our leadership friends at SMART Ekselensia, we are inspired a lot that we can bring to be applied at IBS Al Ikhlas, later we will try to deepen further about the advantages that exist here, “said Herdi.
Although SMART Ekselensia has achieved many successes, they also continue to work on resolving some challenges, such as:
- Financial Resources: Managing a zakat-based school like SMART Ekselensia requires a special strategy in dealing with the uncertainty of funding flow. To ensure operational sustainability and education quality, SMART Ekselensia continues to develop effective financial management strategies, ensuring that the funds received can be utilized optimally and on target.
- Teacher Quality: Maintaining the quality of teachers is a major challenge for every school. SMART Ekselensia strives to implement sustainable teacher training and development programs. Not only students who excel, but SMART Ekselensia teachers also have various achievements.
- Education Competition: The increasing competition in education requires schools to keep innovating. SMART Ekselensia continues to develop excellent programs to remain competitive.
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The comparative study to SMART Ekselensia has inspired IBS Al-Ikhlas to develop a superior school. By adopting best practices and overcoming existing challenges, IBS Al-Ikhlas can become a quality school and have a positive impact on society.
“This is extraordinary because actually, we know that education out there is not easy and not cheap either. Not everyone is able to get an education to enjoy the best quality education with limited costs. So the existence of SMART Ekselensia is an alternative solution for parents, who have children with extraordinary intelligence but are hampered by costs,” said Herdi.
In addition to the presentation of programs and practices at SMART Ekselensia, there were also discussion sessions and question and answer interactions. This visit was followed by a tour around the school while looking at the classes, canteen, library, and student dormitories.
IBS Al Ikhlas appreciates Dompet Dhuafa for its accountability in managing zakat, infaq, sadaqah, and waqf which proves the public’s trust in the institution as a trustworthy institution.
“We as partners for special cooperation in fundraising at school really believe that Dompet Dhuafa can be much better, can play a greater role in community development in caring for Indonesia. Models like SMART Ekselensia must continue to be echoed, encouraged, so that people begin to be aware of how important education is. Hopefully something can be applied in our school. Hopefully we can work together further. Hopefully IBS Al Ikhlas will also at least match SMART Ekselensia,” Herdi concluded.
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Eka Kurniasih as SMART Ekselensia Indonesia Manager welcomed the arrival of IBS Al Ikhlas. Eka hopes that with this activity the two schools can exchange information and share experiences for the development of each school.
“Alhamdulillah, thank you for today’s visit, hopefully what is then expected from SMART, we can fulfill expectations or information related to SMART. SMART Ekselensia is under the Umar Usman education umbrella. We really hope that in this session we will share information and ask permission if there is something good from IBS, we also adapt, maybe this can be a development for our school, “said Eka. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Anndini Dwi Putri
Editor: Dhika