<![CDATA[Minister of Religious Affairs Regulation Number 31 of 2020 provides the operational framework for recognizing pesantren education within Indonesia’s national education system. This study evaluates whether its policy design balances institutional recognition, educational quality, autonomy, equity, and implementation capacity. A qualitative policy-document review was conducted using Law Number 18 of 2019, related ministerial regulations, Presidential Regulation Number 82 of 2021, and peer-reviewed literature. Documents were read through thematic content analysis and assessed using seven criteria: relevance, coherence, adequacy, equity, implementability, accountability, and sustainability. The findings show that the regulation establishes a strong recognition architecture by defining formal and nonformal pathways, protecting pesantren-based curricula, recognizing graduates, and creating internal and external quality-assurance bodies. However, its operational architecture remains uneven. Licensing thresholds may burden small pesantren, educator standards require sustained capacity building, financing provisions are not fully connected to service costs, and data as well as quality indicators need clearer interoperability. The article proposes differentiated, risk-based regulation, staged compliance, need-sensitive funding, transparent quality indicators, and stronger safeguards for children and vulnerable learners. The regulation is therefore normatively progressive but requires coordinated implementation instruments so recognition can become equitable educational quality without eroding pesantren autonomy across Indonesia’s diverse and locally rooted pesantren institutions.]]>
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