To educate the people?

To educate the people?

The decades around the beginning of the last century can be
considered as some of the most productive for Indonesia, as far
as the birth and emergence of great nationalist leaders is
concerned. On June 6, 1901, Sukarno, who at the end of World War
II was to become the country's founding president, was born. Aug.
22, 1902, saw the birth of Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice
president and co-proclaimer of the country's independence. Sutan
Sjahrir, the youngest of the lot, who, at the age of 36, was to
lead the government in the difficult years immediately following
the proclamation of independence on Aug. 17, 1945, followed in
1909.

Compared with these three leaders and their contemporaries,
Soewardi Soerjaningrat -- better known under his adopted name Ki
Hajar Dewantara -- whose birthday the nation commemorates today
as National Education Day, was a relative senior, although by
only a few years, having been born on May 2, 1899.

Although European colonialism appeared well enough ensconced
in the region, the first stirrings of nationalism were becoming
apparent in south and southeast Asia, as witnessed by the
emergence of various organizations that, with the passage of
time, became more and more politically oriented.

Amid all those developments, Ki Hajar Dewantara, like his
Indian counterpart and contemporary Rabindranath Tagore -- with
his Santinikethan school in West Bengal -- set himself the task
of building a national education system that would dispense with
the elitist Dutch school system, with its emphasis on scholastic
aptitude, and develop a system that was more suited to indigenous
Indonesian culture and needs. Having studied the Montessori
educational system in Holland, he was well equipped for the task.

Thus, on July 3, 1922, the Taman Siswa Educational Institute
(Nationaal Onderwijs Instituut Taman Siswa) saw the light, with
Pancadarma as its guiding philosophy, which gave students the
freedom to grow and develop, each according to their own talents
and ambitions. It also aimed to positively promote the natural
gifts and characteristics of students, develop a sense of
nationalism and national awareness and promote a sense of
humanitarianism in students.

Unavoidably, however, the question arises as to whether the
nation still regards Ki Hajar Dewantara's labors as relevant
today. The point is, it may be one thing to pay formal tribute to
a man who is considered a hero, but quite another to honor his
life's work and ideals.

Unfortunately, the skepticism appears justified. Consider, for
example, the law on national education that at present lies
before the House of Representatives for debate. Article 1 of the
convoluted text of the draft, for example, states, "education is
the planned and conscious effort to create a climate of study
that actively promotes (a student's) individual potential to
possess spiritual-religious powers, self-control, character,
intelligence, a noble character and skills that are needed by the
student individually, by society, the nation and the country."

Throughout the deliberations by the House of Representatives,
the issue of religious instruction or education has been the most
hotly debated on the agenda. Thousands of students, teachers and
critics of all colors have demonstrated in front of the
legislature, either to support or object to certain articles of
the draft. In short, politics have dominated the debate, both
inside and outside the legislature.

One could well ask whether the issue of developing a national
education system that effectively meets the need of "educating
the people", as the Constitution prescribes, is still in the
minds of our esteemed legislators. Most lamentably, whatever
legislation ultimately emerges from these politically motivated
debates in the House of Representatives will have the most far-
reaching consequences for future generations of Indonesians and
for the nation.

It seems that the ideals promulgated by Ki Hajar Dewantara
are today at least as far removed as they were when they were
first mooted more than 80 years ago.