The Story of Malaysia Recruiting Indonesian Teachers to Educate Its Citizens

Indonesia was once a beacon of education in Southeast Asia, to the extent that neighbouring countries sought its help to educate their populations. This story unfolded in the late 1960s when Malaysia requested Indonesia to send teachers to the neighbouring nation. At that time, the quality of Indonesian education was considered far more advanced than Malaysia’s, which was still building its national education system after gaining independence in 1957. In Indonesia, universities and teacher training schools had developed rapidly. Many campuses produced graduates ranging from bachelor’s to doctoral levels in various fields. This situation left Indonesia with a relatively abundant and high-quality teaching workforce. In contrast, Malaysia faced significant challenges in the education sector. The government was then undertaking education reforms to expand school access for the Malay ethnic group, which had experienced educational limitations during the British colonial era. During British rule, modern education was primarily intended for Europeans and certain groups. As a result, the Malay population lagged behind in education and human resource quality. This situation prompted the Malaysian government to urgently require a large number of teachers. The choice then fell to Indonesia. Kompas daily (31 May 1967) reported that the request was directly conveyed by Malaysia’s Minister of Education, Mohamed Khir Johari, during a visit to Jakarta. The Indonesian government welcomed the request positively. Besides being seen as recognition of the national education quality, the cooperation also formed part of efforts to improve diplomatic relations between the two countries after they had heated up due to the Indonesia-Malaysia Konfrontasi during President Soekarno’s era. After an agreement was reached, Indonesia began sending teachers to Malaysia in 1969. The number varied each year, ranging from 40 to 100 individuals. Angkatan Bersenjata daily (8 August 1974) noted that the majority of Indonesian teachers sent taught exact sciences subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. They were placed in secondary schools up to universities. The Indonesian teachers not only taught academic subjects. They also helped enhance the Malay language skills of Malaysian society. The closeness between Indonesian and Malay languages was considered to facilitate the learning process amid the dominance of English usage at that time. The role of the Indonesian teaching staff even extended to assisting in the development of Malaysia’s education curriculum. This occurred due to the limited number of education experts possessed by the neighbouring nation at that time. Indeed, in the autobiography of Indonesian education figure Imaduddin Abdulrahim (2002), it is mentioned that during that period, Malaysia only had three master’s degree graduates. In addition to bringing in Indonesian teachers, Malaysia also sent many of its top students to study at Indonesian campuses. They were expected to return to their homeland with knowledge and experience to build Malaysia’s national education system. The Indonesian teacher dispatch programme to Malaysia continued until entering the 1980s. After that, Malaysia began to be considered capable of independently running its education system with increasingly developed teaching staff and curriculum. Amid various current education challenges in Indonesia, this story serves as a reminder that the quality of national education was once highly regarded in the Southeast Asian region.