Indonesia Develops Santri Matic Program for Digital Creative Economy

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia is preparing Islamic boarding school students through the Santri Matic Program to strengthen digital literacy and creative economy skills. The initiative was discussed during a coordination meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.

The program is a collaboration between the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Creative Economy. It aims to develop digital capabilities and creative economic opportunities based on Islamic boarding schools across Indonesia.

Santri Matic Digital Marketer targets 40,000 Islamic boarding schools and five million students nationwide. Through training in digital marketing for religious products, modest fashion, and other creative sectors, the program aims to prepare santri for the digital economy.

The program is expected to encourage around 2 percent of participating students to become new digital entrepreneurs. This initiative is projected to create up to 100,000 new jobs through creative economic activities.

The Santri Matic Program was initiated by the Ministry of Creative Economy's Directorate of Digital Content. It is designed to equip santri with digital literacy, creativity, and knowledge to adapt to technological developments.

The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs stated Islamic boarding schools have strong potential to produce young talents who can contribute responsibly in the digital space. The ministry continues to strengthen cooperation across institutions to support santri in facing digital transformation.

Head of Da'wah and Community Empowerment Subdivision at the Directorate of Islamic Boarding Schools, A. Rafiq Zainul Mun'im, said the collaboration expands the role of pesantren. He emphasized the need to equip santri with digital skills and creativity.

"This collaboration is our shared effort to expand the role of Islamic boarding schools. Santri need digital literacy and creativity to become content creators who promote moderate, friendly, and enlightening Islamic values in the digital space," Rafiq said.

Director of Digital Content at the Ministry of Creative Economy, Yuana Rochma Astuti, said pesantren are strategic partners in building Indonesia's creative economy ecosystem. She said santri should not only become technology users but also innovative digital creators who can compete nationally and globally.

"Islamic boarding schools have strong character, a learning culture, and a large young generation. Through the Santri Matic Program, we want santri to become innovative, productive digital content creators who can compete nationally and globally," she said.

The two ministries also discussed follow-up programs, including digital literacy training, creative content production, and developing a pesantren-based digital creator ecosystem. The collaboration is expected to strengthen Indonesia's digital transformation and create more opportunities for young creative talents from Islamic boarding schools.