Jakarta, July 1 -- Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs has reiterated its commitment to strengthening services and support for Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens), despite budget constraints and the government's national budget efficiency policy.

"The budget may be limited, but our commitment remains unchanged," said Endi Suhendi Zen, an official from the ministry's Pesantren Directorate, on Tuesday.

He noted that only around 5,100 of the country's approximately 42,000 pesantrens have so far received business incubation assistance through the ministry's Pesantren Independence Program.

This year, around 1,000 more Islamic boarding schools are expected to benefit from the program.

"We want to do more, but we must understand that...