Education for Indonesians

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