The New Era in Indonesian Education

Abstract

These principles are more explicitly stated in Education Act of 1950 in which aims of education are defined as the development of moral character and rearing of democratic citizens with a sense of responsibility for welfare of society as a whole. Article 4 of same Act states further that Pantia Sila (the five elements of national philosophy, namely Belief in God Almighty, Humanitarianism, Nationalism, Democracy and Social Justice) shall be basis of education, and that education shall also be expression of national culture. These underlying principles are also expressed in recent Higher Education Act, passed on November 14, 1961. The foremost aim of higher education, so Act stipulates, is education of moral man. Historically speaking, some aspects of educational system were already established by Dutch in final stages of their colonial rule, but big projects were started only after proclamation of independence in 1945 and system could come into full swing only when fighting ceased in 1949 and reconstruction could be begun in earnest. How big educational problem was can be seen from following figures: In 1935 only twenty-four boys and nine girls among one thousand Indonesians were having some sort of elementary education in island of Java, which at time had some fifty million inhabitants. The highest figure for same year was that of Tapanuli area, where Rhenish Mission had worked since 1861, with thirty-three boys and thirteen girls among one thousand Indonesians receiving elementary education from among a population of two million.2 The type of elementary education that was available to most school-going Indonesians up to 1942 was three-year village school. In 1927 only 601 Indonesians had academic secondary education, and there were only sixteen Indonesian students in seven-yearold College of Technology, seventy students in four-year old Law School and seven students in newly-established Medical School.3 Ninety-two per cent of population was illiterate at time of Dutch surrender to Japanese in 1942, and there were only 400-odd Indonesians with university training.4 Thus it was not surprising that when independence was proclaimed, education was foremost in people's minds, and everybody was teaching everybody in campaign against illiteracy. It was also a period of extensive correspondence courses, sent out for benefit of those young people who left their schools to join armed forces.