Ath Thaariq Ecological Islamic Boarding School

In 2008, Ath Thaariq had a bitter experience that then changed the perspective and practice in Islamic boarding school education. In that year, the community experienced crop failure and the leader of the Islamic boarding school almost failed to give birth due to malnutrition. The last three years, the rice harvest has also decreased. After being analyzed, it was discovered that the surrounding ecosystem had been damaged. Not only is the soil content damaged, environmental degradation has also made poplars, sparrows, and grasshoppers pests because their populations have swelled and damaged farmers' and Islamic boarding school crops.

Ath Thaariq Ecological Boarding School accesses Nusantara Fund funding for ecosystem improvement efforts through the implementation of an agroecological farming system, strengthening the implementation of an ecological restoration-based curriculum, and implementing... community practice. First of all, the focus of the first activity is on improving and strengthening the agricultural and ecological zones around the Islamic boarding school. Second, strengthening and integrating the ecosystem improvement-based curriculum into the Ath Thaariq Ecological Islamic Boarding School education. The materials brought include green Islam, agroecology, ecofeminism, circular economy, Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), and the application of social media. From the preparation of the curriculum, Pesantren Ekologi Ath Thaariq has just held the third activity, namely the implementation of training.

The community around the Islamic boarding school gained many benefits from the activities that had been carried out. From the agricultural zone strengthening activities, the Ath Thaariq Islamic Boarding School was able to produce healthy food for the students involved, as well as for the surrounding community. In addition, from the harvest, they were also able to produce derivative products that could be marketed. The training also became a joint learning medium, not only for students, but also accessible to the surrounding community who were interested. From the curriculum preparation activities, the 6 teaching materials that had been mentioned had been summarized in a structured document.

The direct benefits of this program are not only felt by the students involved in the training, but also the surrounding community. The direct beneficiaries are counted from those who are involved as training participants and who feel the benefits of the harvest from agroecological farming on the 1 hectare of Islamic boarding school agricultural land reaching 450 people. If we consider the influence of the movement attempted by the Ath Thaariq Islamic Boarding School, with the opening of access to learning for everyone, the indirect impact of this program could reach around 1000 people.