Madura — Digital maturity varies significantly among Islamic boarding institutions in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey, while effective school management is increasingly connected to leadership, infrastructure, digital policies, and teachers’ digital capabilities. The findings come from Abdul Kafi, Muhammad Syarif, and Sutikno of Universitas Trunojoyo Madura Indonesia through a comparative literature review examining Islamic boarding education between 2022 and 2025. The review finds that Turkey has the most advanced level of digital integration, Malaysia demonstrates structured progress supported by national policies, Indonesia ranges from emerging to developing with substantial institutional differences, while Pakistan remains at an early stage due to infrastructure limitations and inconsistent madrasah reforms.
Islamic boarding institutions have distinctive characteristics because they combine formal education, religious learning, residential life, character development, and religious leadership. In Indonesia, these institutions are commonly known as pesantren, while Malaysia has SMKA and Islamic boarding schools, Pakistan has extensive madrasah networks, and Turkey operates Imam Hatip schools. Millions of students study across these institutions, making their ability to respond to technological change increasingly important for the future of Islamic education.
The transformation became particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Distance learning forced many institutions with limited experience or previous resistance to technology to adopt digital tools, ranging from basic communication applications to Learning Management Systems. The pandemic therefore became a major accelerator of digitalization whose effects continued into the post-pandemic period.
However, technological development has not progressed at the same pace across countries. Previous studies have generally examined digitalization or school management effectiveness separately and within individual national contexts. Abdul Kafi, Muhammad Syarif, and Sutikno therefore conducted a comparative review to examine digital maturity and School Effectiveness Management across Islamic boarding institutions in four countries.
The researchers used a Comparative Systematic Literature Review approach. Literature was collected from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, DOAJ, and national indexing systems in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey. The search was conducted between October 2025 and January 2026 and covered publications issued from January 2022 through December 2025.
The initial search identified 247 records. After removing 43 duplicates, 204 records were screened by title and abstract. A total of 119 articles passed the initial relevance assessment, while full-text screening resulted in a final corpus of 62 articles. These consisted of 28 studies from Indonesia, 11 from Malaysia, 12 from Pakistan, and 11 from Turkey.
Among the reviewed literature, 67.7 percent used qualitative methods, 19.4 percent used mixed methods, and 12.9 percent used quantitative approaches. The largest research focus was digital transformation processes and challenges at 38.7 percent, followed by educational leadership and quality management at 25.8 percent, curriculum integration at 19.4 percent, and digital literacy assessment at 16.1 percent.
In Indonesia, digital maturity in pesantren is classified between emerging and developing. The situation varies considerably depending on institutional type and Kyai leadership orientation. Modern pesantren tend to show greater adoption of Learning Management Systems, digital administration, and technology-supported curriculum integration. Traditional pesantren, however, continue to face limited technology access, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient digital skills among educators, resistance to change, and funding constraints.
Infrastructure remains one of Indonesia’s major challenges. One of the reviewed studies found that approximately 40 percent of pesantren in West Java had stable internet connections. The role of Kyai leadership is also critical because support from religious leaders can facilitate digital transformation through online registration, digital communication platforms, and more transparent administrative processes.
Malaysia demonstrates a more advanced position, classified between developing and established. Its progress is supported by national education policies and digital platforms such as DELIMa. The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025 and the National Digital Education Policy 2023 provide a structured foundation for technology integration in education, including Islamic education. However, rural and urban disparities remain a major challenge.
Pakistan, meanwhile, remains at the emerging stage. Its madrasah system largely operates outside the formal education sector, making technology policy implementation uneven. The government has introduced initiatives such as the TeleSchool App, eTaleem Portal, and hundreds of smart classrooms, but their penetration into the madrasah sector remains limited. Infrastructure shortages, restricted technology access, insufficient teacher training, and resistance among some madrasah authorities remain significant barriers.
Turkey records the highest digital maturity among the four countries, classified between established and advanced. Through the FATIH Project, the Turkish government has developed educational technology infrastructure, including interactive whiteboards and nationwide internet connectivity. The EBA platform also provides digital learning materials. More recent developments have begun incorporating artificial intelligence through platforms designed to personalize learning.
These differences are also reflected in School Effectiveness Management. In Indonesia, the Kyai plays a central role in managing pesantren. Malaysia has a more standardized management system within its national education framework. Pakistan faces fragmented regulation, while Turkey has more integrated management structures connected to national education and quality assurance systems.
The comparative table in the article classifies Indonesia as Emerging–Developing, Malaysia as Developing–Established, Pakistan as Emerging, and Turkey as Established–Advanced. These differences are associated with national digital policies, infrastructure quality, educator digital literacy, cultural resistance, and the consistency of technology implementation.
Despite their different levels of maturity, the four countries share several patterns. COVID-19 accelerated digital adoption across all four contexts. Leadership emerged as a critical factor influencing the pace of transformation, whether through the Kyai in Indonesia, school principals in Malaysia, Mudir in Pakistan, or Hoca in Turkey. Physical infrastructure, including internet connectivity, technology availability, and reliable electricity, also remains a fundamental determinant of digital maturity, particularly in rural areas.
The review shows that successful digital transformation requires more than simply providing technological devices. Islamic boarding institutions also need leaders capable of managing change, educators with digital competencies, clear policies, and management systems that can use technology and data to improve educational quality.
For Indonesia, the experiences of Malaysia and Turkey could provide useful references for developing a more integrated digital ecosystem for pesantren. The researchers suggest that a national digital platform specifically designed for pesantren could help address the fragmented and institution-dependent approach currently found in many settings. Digital leadership training for Kyai is also considered essential because leadership is consistently identified as a major driver of digital transformation.
For Malaysia, the priority is to close the rural-urban implementation gap. Pakistan needs stronger digital infrastructure and regulatory harmonization to connect madrasahs more effectively with national digital education initiatives. Turkey, meanwhile, has an opportunity to use its advanced infrastructure and experience to develop Islamic educational technology models that could be shared with other countries.
The researchers conclude that the relationship between digital maturity and School Effectiveness Management is strongly influenced by national policies, infrastructure investment, regulatory reach, and religio-cultural leadership structures. Turkey demonstrates the most systematic digital integration, Malaysia has strong policies but continues to face implementation gaps, Indonesia has the widest variation among institutions, while Pakistan faces the greatest challenges in connecting madrasahs to national digital education systems.
Because the study is literature-based, the researchers recommend future field research to further examine the relationship between digital maturity and school management effectiveness. Future studies are also expected to develop a digital maturity index specifically for Islamic boarding institutions and to track the sustainability of digital transformation over time.
Authors
Abdul Kafi — Universitas Trunojoyo Madura Indonesia.
Muhammad Syarif — Universitas Trunojoyo Madura Indonesia.
Sutikno — Universitas Trunojoyo Madura Indonesia.
Research Source
Article Title: Digital Maturity and School Effectiveness Management in Islamic Boarding Institutions: A Comparative Literature Review of Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey (2022–2025)
Journal: International Journal of Scientific Multidisciplinary Research (IJSMR), Vol. 4 No. 8, 2026, pp. 1723–1740.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/ijsmr.v4i8.133
Journal Link: https://journalijsmr.my.id/index.php/ijsmr
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