Opportunities and challenges faced by State Islamic Tertiary Education Institutions in 4.0 Industrial Era

Abstract

This research aims at understanding opportunities and challenges faced by State Islamic Tertiary Education Institution in Indonesia's industrial revolution 4.0 era amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to new normal. This is a qualitative research involving 46 informants, consisting of stakeholders in Islamic Tertiary institutions. The data were collected through interviews, observation and documentation. The data analysis were implemented through reduction, display data, and conclusion drawing/verification. The result of this research shows that the Islamic higher education institutions still experience challenges in the industrial revolution 4.0 era: lack of human resource, administrative staff’s lack of ability in using technological devices, and insufficient infrastructure to support the teaching process. However, industrial revolution 4.0 has opened new opportunities for the development of the tertiary institutions, in terms of its institution status changes from State Islamic Institution to State Islamic University, including the establishment of faculty of science and technology relevant to the current job market. In addition, during the Covid-19 and new normal era, the teaching process was based on online infrastructure, which was the characteristic of industrial revolution 4.0. The strategy to uplift the quality of Islamic higher institutions was conducted by enhancing the lecturer's competency, implementing the National Qualification Framework for Indonesia curriculum, developing the technology facility for teaching, and establishing the Ma’hadA’ly (Higher learning) program.