The Arabic Language Teacher Capacity Enhancement Program: Policy analysis study of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Banda Aceh, Lhoukseumawe and Langsa

The Arabic subjects taught from basic to higher education levels in the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in the Aceh region have been going on for a long time, but the quality of teaching has not been done. This is closely related to the quality of Arabic language teachers both in terms of pedagogy and material mastery. This study is a qualitative research by analyzing the efforts made to strengthen Arabic language teachers carried out by the Ministry of Religion and the obstacles facing their implementation as well as the basic needs of teachers, so that the policies set by the Ministry of Religion are more measurable, effective and efficient. The research populations and samples are 3 cities in Aceh, which are; Banda Aceh, Lhoukseumawe and Langsa. For whom the research sample is leaders of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, some school principals and teachers of MIN, MTsN and MAN schools in the three cities. Some of the important results obtained are: (1) The absence of a reinforcement program for Arabic language teachers directly held by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the three cities, but only coordinated by sending training participants organized by the regional office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Aceh, or BDK (Religious Education and Training Center) and institutions outside the Ministry of Religious Affairs; (2) There are 3 big problems that the Ministry of Religious Affairs faces in the three cities to increase the capacity of Arabic language teachers: funding/budgeting factors, human resources, and policies; (3) Some teacher responses to the program, such as; Training materials do not correspond to the needs of teachers, lack of program facilities and infrastructure, absence of monitoring and evaluation from program implementers, and lack of sustainability of the teacher capacity building program, by the organizers and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in the three cities.