Secular–religious debates on the Indonesian National Education System: colonial legacy and a search for national identity in education

Abstract

This paper attempts to trace and discuss the historical roots of secular–religious debates and tensions and their relationship to the formation of the Indonesian National Education System within the context of the history of Dutch colonization and nationalist struggles for national identity. It focuses on what are believed to be two ‘significant events’ in the history of the Indonesian National Education System. The first is three and half centuries of Dutch occupation of Indonesia prior to 1945 and the second the establishment of the Indonesian National Education System. Also, the tension between those desiring a secular versus religious (Islamic) education system is discussed in detail.