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Former education minister Daoed Joesoef passes away
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Daoed Joesoef was an avid critic of the government when he was studying in university. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
F
ormer Indonesian education and culture minister, Daoed Joesoef, passed away at the age of 91 late on Tuesday evening at Medistra Hospital, South Jakarta.
The body of the former minister, who served between 1978 and 1983 under the Soeharto era, will be buried at Giri Tama Cemetery, Bogor, West Java.
“Eyang [Grandpa] was a bit reluctant to [be treated at] hospitals, so he did not want to be brought to any. But on Saturday, his condition was getting worse, so we brought him here,” said Aldi Nugroho, Daoed’s grandson, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Daoed was born on Aug. 8, 1926, in Medan, North Sumatra, to Javanese parents. In his young age, Daoed was known as an avid critic of the government. When studying as an undergraduate at the University of Indonesia’s School of Economics, he criticized the policies of the government, which prompted then-vice president Mohammad Hatta to invite him for a discussion.
After his graduation in 1959, Daoed continued his studies in France and earned his doctoral degree in international economics and international relations in 1967, as well as economic studies in 1973.
After returning to his country, Daoed was appointed culture and education minister in 1978 by then-president Soeharto. During his tenure, which lasted until 1983, he implemented a policy to separate campus life from politics. It was a move purportedly made to direct universities to focus on science and knowledge, but is widely believed to have been an attempt to silence critical thinkers.
He recently criticized the education system for not having a comprehensive and future-oriented concept for educating the country’s children.
He was one of the co-founders of the think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).(dmr)
