European education<\/p>\n
I must sympathize with Mrs. Sumarsono, who says she was
\ndeprived of the European education she feels she was entitled to
\nand qualified for (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 8, 1994). Allow me to
\nmake a few observations for those expat readers who may not be
\nfamiliar with the matter.<\/p>\n
During the Dutch Colonial Administration there were two
\neducation systems: one for native Indonesians and one for
\nEuropeans. If we substitute \"international\" for \"European\" it is
\neasy to see the factual situation for the average Indonesian has
\nhardly changed. At present Indonesians are barred, by Indonesian
\nlaw, from entering international schools in Indonesia. However,
\nin the old colonial days not only European children but also
\nchildren of high Indonesian civil servants and those who were
\ngelijkgesteld (i.e. honorary Europeans) had access to European
\nschools. Those MULO and (especially) HBS institutes were of an
\nunusually high caliber and entry to those schools was seen as an
\nabsolute prerequisite for successful professional and business
\ncareers and as a token of high, social prestige. Children from
\nother Indonesian families went to Inlandsche Scholen (Native
\nSchools), which were of considerably lower quality, and in
\ngeneral had no access to European schools.<\/p>\n
However, exceptions were made for those Indonesian students
\nwho were considered bright and ambitious. Soekarno, for instance,
\nwas such a case. His father (a school teacher) pleaded with the
\nheadmaster of the local European elementary school at Mojokerto
\nand Soekarno was accepted. Later he became a HBS student in
\nSurabaya (there were other such schools in Batavia and Bandung)
\nand went on to graduate from what is now ITB in Bandung.<\/p>\n
In his autobiography, Soekarno deals with this part of his
\nlife in great detail and gives the reader a fascinating insight
\nin the position of a young Inlandsche student in the 1920's. It
\nshould be noted that not only Soekarno but also Hatta, Sjahrir
\nand most (if not all) other prominent Indonesians of the first
\nhour had top-notch Dutch education. I should also like to point
\nout the Dutch-trained Indonesian diplomats, who in the 1940's
\nmanaged to corner and totally isolate The Netherlands in the UN
\nand mobilize American public opinion, which, seen from a
\ndiplomat's point of view, was a sheer masterpiece and in the end
\ntipped the balance in favor of the Republic. The Dutch were done
\nin by their own trainees.<\/p>\n
Another crucial aspect is the numerical and logistical side of
\nthings. In the 1930's there were 70 million people in the
\nNetherlands Indies and eight million in The Netherlands. In
\nprinciple, Kartini was right when she said that the high quality
\nEuropean education she enjoyed should be extended to all
\nIndonesians instead of being restricted to a lucky few. But how
\ncould The Netherlands have supplied the enormous numbers of
\nqualified teachers required for such a mega-project? Where should
\nthey have come from? Although (seen through today's eyes) the
\nwhole thing smacks of favoritism, it is difficult to see how the
\nNetherlands Indies Government could have dealt with the situation
\notherwise.<\/p>\n
BERT DE KORT<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/european-education-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }