News

Digital 'pesantren' in Riau province

NU Online  ·  Sabtu, 19 April 2008 | 07:16 WIB

Pekanbaru, NU Online
In cooperation with state-owned PT Telkom, Babussalam pesantren, or Islamic boarding school, has become the first "digital pesantren" in the province.

The director of Telkom's general affairs division, Faisal Syam, said the digital pesantren, located in Pekanbaru, will provide the public greater access to information on Islamic boarding schools in the country, as well as giving the students skills in digital and information and communication technologies.<>

"We want to help create quality human resources, a digital society and communication media among students," he said during the launch ceremony on Thursday.

During the event, Telkom presented the pesantren's management, the Syech Abdul Wahab Rokan Foundation, two computers, a server and a hotspot device.

The boarding school now has its own website, www.babussalam_riau.org.

Telkom will train 200 teachers and 1,000 students how to use the Internet and communicate with other digital communities.

Governor Rusli Zainal, who attended the launch ceremony, thanked the company for its assistance and hoped the program could be expanded to reach other boarding schools in the province. (jp/dar)