Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto has ordered safety inspections across all Islamic boarding schools in the country after an East Javan school collapsed on its students.

Just last week, the three-story building of Al-Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo collapsed during a prayer service, leaving many students trapped. The incident claimed at least 49 lives as of Sunday.

During a recent meeting with cabinet members,  Prabowo instructed Coordinating Social Empowerment Minister Muhaimin Iskandar to be in charge of the nationwide boarding school inspections.

“Mr. Muhaimin will be in charge of inspecting the physical structure of and repairing registered boarding schools. … This also includes providing assistance,” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi also confirmed to the press that Prabowo had been monitoring the Al-Khonizy tragedy.

“We hope that in the future, all Islamic boarding schools will be assessed. So that the security of their buildings and infrastructure is ensured,” he said.

The latest death toll of the building collapse has risen to 49. The search-and-rescue team has also found five body parts. The team had taken all the body bags to a hospital in Surabaya for identification. The search continues for 14 other victims. There are 104 survivors so far, 97 of whom have recovered. One person could go home without having to receive medical treatment. 

Indonesia -- the world’s largest Muslim-majority country -- is home to around 42,433 Islamic boarding schools. According to the Public Works Ministry, only 50 of such schools have building licenses. This document acts as proof that the construction follows technical standards. During the time of the Al-Khoziny tragedy, concrete work was underway to expand the structure from a single-story to three floors.

"All Islamic boarding schools must have a building license. ... At the moment, we are focusing on the search and rescue efforts. However, there are plans to inform sub-national governments and all boarding schools that they need to have these permits," Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo said. 

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