Education for Indonesians

I too sympathize with Mrs. Sumarsono and I agree that Mr. Bert de Kort cannot get away with substituting "international" for "European" as suggested in his letter (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 13, 1994). He seems to forget that it must have been insulting for Indonesians to have to be classified as `gelijkgesteld' (honorary Europeans) before they could enjoy quality education in their own country. Today an increasing number of Indonesians, in addition to being able to study overseas, do have access, and without stigma or `honorary' racial re-classification, to their own schools and universities aspiring to international standards. Thus, there is a world of difference between the situation today and that under Dutch colonialism. Furthermore, Mr. de Kort's use of the euphemistic phrase "smack of favoritism," to describe what was, in fact, a grossly discriminatory colonial caste system reinforced by European privilege in education, is inaccurate to say the least.

Just as Mr. de Kort has tried, allow me to paint a more complete picture for expatriate readers by quoting from the sociologist, W.F. Wertheim's book titled Indonesian Society in Transition: About 1850 the colonial stratification based on race had assumed a fixed form in Java, which was reflected in the laws. The Europeans formed the ruling stratum, resembling a caste. "The gulf between the two layers was practically unbridgeable." "Punitive measures were framed to ensure that the color-line should not be overstepped."

Change came because of practical rather than benevolent or idealistic reasons. Wertheim states that the "expansion of the apparatus of government and of Western business" brought educational opportunities for the Indo-Europeans, the children of chiefs and the Ambonese and Manadonese Christians; but "it was only after 1900 that education was opened to a larger number of Indonesians."

Wertheim goes on to say, "The demand for trained personnel continued to increase. Indonesians were being appointed to functions which had previously been the privilege of Europeans." However, by exclusively reserving high salaried positions for Europeans, the "privileged position of the European upper stratum was preserved for as long as possible." Such policies, as well as far more subtle ones, which reinforce the vested interests of castes, classes and other socio-economic groupings, by their very nature, provide protection for the undeserving and, consequently, ultimately fail. To my great shame my own country perpetuates such practices here in Indonesia, albeit on a small scale, in the form of the British Council, which has its origins in the late colonial period.

Mr. de Kort's suggestion that in the 1930s the eight million people of the Netherlands were, for logistical reasons, unable to make an impact on the education of the 70 million people of the Dutch East Indies, hardly seems credible given the extent of the Netherlands' indebtedness to Indonesia. Three hundred and fifty years of Dutch exploitation and a standard of living (education included) which relied very heavily on a one-way flow of wealth from Indonesia, deserved some recompense. Such injustices, Mr. de Kort, are easier to come to terms with if they are at least presented accurately.

FRANK RICHARDSON

Jakarta