Increasing the Quantity and Quality of Religious Instructors in the Underdeveloped, Frontier, and Outermost (3T) Regions of the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia

Rohayati

doi:10.61860/jigp.v5i1.406

Authors

Rohayati Kementerian Agama Kota Batam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61860/jigp.v5i1.406

Keywords:

Local Affirmation;, Digital Divide, Religious Extension, MADANI Program, Disadvantaged, Frontier, Outermost Regions

Abstract

This policy paper outlines that the implementation of the MADANI Program in the Disadvantaged, Frontier, and Outermost (3T) regions, particularly in the Batam City Ministry of Religious Affairs, faces structural obstacles in the form of a dual crisis in the quantity and quality of Religious Instructors. Geographic isolation and conventional recruitment patterns trigger high employee transfer rates, while the rigid demands for digitalization of central administration give rise to the phenomenon of a second-level digital divide at the grassroots level. This policy study aims to analyze the root causes of the personnel deficit and low digital literacy of religious instructors, as well as to formulate alternative, adaptive, solution-oriented regulations. Using an action-oriented, descriptive qualitative policy analysis methodology, this study adopts William N. Dunn's model through fishbone diagram techniques and force field analysis to evaluate secondary data and official performance reports hierarchically. The results of the discussion indicate that standardization of digitalization without the capacity readiness of frontline bureaucrats (street-level bureaucrats) actually paralyzes reporting accountability and disseminates the value of religious moderation in the border areas. This study concludes that synchronizing policies from upstream to downstream is absolutely necessary to restore public trust and ensure fiscal justice for civil servants in isolated regions. Therefore, it is recommended that the Ministry of Religious Affairs immediately exercise its discretion to issue a Ministerial Regulation regarding local affirmative action recruitment (indigenous recruitment) with a minimum ten-year service commitment to maintain national resilience in the border regions of the Republic of Indonesia.

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