TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
President of Rajawali Foundation and senior advisor for the Center for Public Policy Transformation (Transformasi)
Hard times: Students of state vocational school SMK Negeri 2 Serang attend the 2018 computer-based national exam on April 2. (Antara/Asep Fathulrahman)
For Indonesia’s revolutionary leaders, public education was an essential building block of the nation. Universal access to schooling would forge a national identify from the archipelago’s thousands of islands and hundreds of ethnic groups. The adoption of Indonesian as the language of instruction was an important milestone in the formation of a national culture, as fewer than 10 percent of the population spoke Indonesian as their mother tongue in 1945. The common experience of a national curriculum, school uniforms, flag-raising ceremonies and the commemoration of national milestones would awaken a national consciousness in the young generation, the first to grow up in a free and independent Indonesia. Under Dutch colonialism, most Indonesians had not had a chance to attend school. Good progress was made in the 1950s, as the new government doubled elementary school enro...
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
