Empowering Female Santri through Gender-Responsive Education for Marriage Readiness and Future Planning in Pesantren

Abstract

Female santri in Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) make important decisions about marriage, continuity of education and future aspirations in complex sociocultural contexts. Community service program was conducted to improve literacy on marriage readiness and motivation for further study through gender responsive education and future planning at Nurul Jadid Nangger Islamic Boarding School Sampang Indonesia using Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology: participatory needs assessment, collaborative action planning, marriage-readiness education with local Office of Religious Affairs, alumni led educational motivation sessions, life planning assistance and peer mentor training. The main participants were 41 female santri junior and senior secondary level while the other group was 35 male santri. Data were collected by observation, stakeholder interviews, life planning worksheets and a 30-item pretest-posttest instrument measuring marriage readiness and motivation for further study. Mean score of females improved from 21.09 to 24.63 (78.05%) with 32 women (participants) improving exceeding the target of 75%. Qualitative observations showed some participants developed more specific educational and career aspirations. The program produced a pesantren based peer mentoring guide as well as started peer support capacity building. These findings show short-term learning outcomes (marriage readiness education integrated with future planning). Long term outcomes cannot be verified yet but mentoring, institutional support and follow-up evaluation are needed to sustain the benefits of the program.