Merauke, Papua (ANTARA) - Several Indonesian soldiers from the 11/MA Combat Engineering Detachment (Denzipur) have assisted the construction of the Asy-Syifa Islamic boarding school in Sidomulyo Village, Semangga Subdistrict, Merauke District, Papua Province.
The army personnel's community service reflected the Indonesian Military's (TNI's) care for improving the quality of education for children in Papua, Asy-Syifa Islamic Boarding School Principal K.POH Ach Sholeh said here Sunday.
"Building this Islamic boarding school is a positive response to meet the community's needs of religious teachings and education for members of young generation so that they become religious and smart," he said.
Sholeh said he was so thankful for the combat engineering detachment's personnel who had participated in building the Islamic boarding school which was developed from a Quran recitation learning center.
Owing to local Muslim children's great enthusiasm of learning the Quran, their parents then proposed that the TNI's community service program assist the construction of the Asy-Syifa Islamic boarding school, he said.
The TNI was expected to keep upholding its unity with local tribal, community, and religious leaders, he added.
ANTARA noted that Indonesian soldiers, stationed in Papua and West Papua, have demonstrated their care for the development of human resources in Papua and West Papua.
In fact, the human development index of scores of these two provinces remains lower than that of other provinces in Indonesia.
Referring to Indonesia's 2019 human development index, the scores of Papua and West Papua were recorded at 64.7 and 60.84 respectively.
In dealing with this challenging reality, commanders have assigned soldiers, particularly those stationed near the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea (PNG) border areas, to serve as voluntary teachers at schools.
Several members of the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea (PNG) Border Security Task Force in Merauke District, Papua Province, for instance, have adeptly shouldered this responsibility.
They have extended voluntary assistance to teachers at 12 elementary schools in the sub-districts of Sota, Neukenjerai, Eligobel, and Ulilin in Merauke District since July 2019.
They teach reading, writing, and mathematics to students, Commander of the task force at the Army Strategic Reserves Command's (Kostrad's) MR 411/PDW Infantry Battalion Major Rizky Aditya noted in a statement last year.
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