A Vast Expansion, Yet a Sorry Infrastructure: A Paradox of the Decolonization of Indonesian Education, c. 1950s

https://doi.org/10.22146/lembaran-sejarah.69968

Agus Suwignyo(1*)

(1) Department of History Universitas Gadjah Mada
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


The multitude of infrastructural problems in the Indonesian educational sector which had to be dealt with during the 1950s was counterpointed by the sector’s massive expansion. The aim of this paper is to explore this paradox in the framework of Indonesian decolonization. The government policy was to greatly expand education at all levels because it believed education was a gateway to “fulfilling independence (mengisi kemerdekaan)”. This paper argues that this expansion was a strategy of decolonization by which the education legacy of the colonial past was to be delegitimized. However, severe budgetary limitations, and a lack of infrastruture and facilities forced the government to continue its dependence on the inherited colonial education facilities and on foreign aid, hence made the strategy of decolonization unrealized in this process of expansion.


Keywords


1950s; education expansion; educational infrastructures; decolonization; Indonesia

Full Text:

PDF


References

Unpublished Archives

“Daftar Angka-Angka tentang Djumlah Sekolah dan Banjaknja Muridnja”, Arsip Kabinet Presiden No. 1131 (ANRI).

“Laporan Universitas Gadjah Mada pada Dies Natalis ke-XVII, 19 December 1966. Khazanah Arsip UGM, UGM Bureau of University Archive.

“Minta Bantuan Begrooting dari Pemerintah untuk Penyudahan SMP Tarusan dengan Segera”, Arsip Kabinet Presiden No. 1199 (ANRI).

“Nasib Anak-Anak Tamatan S.R.”, Arsip Muhammad Yamin No. 277 (ANRI).

“Pembangunan Sekolah Guru Bengkalis”, Arsip Kabinet Presiden No. 1221 (ANRI).

“Roger Bancroft to John Slocum, 30 November 1958”, Grant No. 05800283, Improvement of Instruction and Curriculum (Ford Foundation Archives Department, NYC).

“Undang-Undang No. 50 Tahun 1954 tentang Penetapan Anggaran”, Arsip Sekretaris Kabinet-Undang-Undang No. 143 (ANRI).

Newspapers and Magazines

De Volkskrant, Donderdag 13 November 1947, “Paedagogische Problemen in Indonesië: Grote en Spontane Belangstelling voor Scholen en Onderwijs, Nederlandse Leerkrachten Worden met Muziek Ingehaald”.

Pedoman Goeroe: Soerat Berkala oentoek Goeroe-Goeroe Sekolah Rendah Tahun II (11/12), October-November, 1949, 268-278, “Perlengkapan Alat-Alat Pengadjaran”.

Pedoman Goeroe Tahoen 2 (1), 1 December 1948, “Pada Permoelaan Tahoen jang Kedoea”.

Pedoman Goeroe Tahoen 2 (1), 1 December 1948, “Rentjana Pengadjaran Baroe”.

The Voice of Free Indonesia No. 12, 18 May 1946, p. 12

Books and Journals

Agus Suwignyo. (2017a). “The American Influence in Indonesian Teacher Training, 1956-1964”, History of Education 46 (5), 653-673.

——— (2017b). “Mass Education: Elite’s Citizenship Project and the Making of Public Intellectuality in Early Independent Indonesia”, Paramita: Historical Studies Journal 27 (2), 154-167.

———(forthcoming). “School Teachers and Soft Decolonization of Dutch-Indonesian Relations, 1945-1949”, Itinerario.

Agus Suwignyo and Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri. (2018). “Praktik Kewargaan Sehari-hari sebagai Ketahanan Masyarakat Tahun 1950an: Sebuah Tinjauan Sejarah”, Jurnal Ketahanan Nasional 24 (1), 94-116

Agus Suwignyo dan Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri. (2018). “Praktik Sosio-Kultural sebagai Bentuk Kewargaan Masyarakat Tahun 1950an: Melihat Kembali Historiografi Kebangsaan dalam Bingkai Non-negara”, Patrawidya 19 (1), 1-18.

Anderson, Benedict R.O.G. (1983). “Old States, New Society: Indonesia’s New Order in Comparative Historical Perspective”, The Journal of Asian Studies 42 (3) May, 477-496.

Bawadiman, Soetopo Prawironoto and Soejoto Koesoemoprawiro (eds). (2011). Buku Kenang-Kenangan IKPTM. Yogyakarta: Pengurus Pusat IKPTM.

Broere, Sebastiaan. (2020). “Auto-activity: Decolonization and the Politics of Knowledge Early Postwar Indonesia, ca 1920-1955”, Lembaran Sejarah 16 (2), 143-164.

Cummings, William K. and Kasenda, Salman. (1989). “The Origin of Modern Indonesian Higher Education”, in Philip G. Altbach and Viswanathan Selvaratnam (eds). From Dependence to Autonomy: The Development of Asian University. Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 143-166.

Departemen Pendidikan, Keboedajaan dan Pengetahoean. (1948). Daftar Sementara tentang Alat-alat Peladjaran, dsb. [dan sebagainya] oentoek Keperloean Pengadjaran. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan, Keboedajaan dan Pengetahoean.

Departement van Economische Zaken Centraal Kantoor voor de Statistiek. (1948). Statistik Pengadjaran Rendah di Indonesia (1/6 1947). Batavia: Centraal Kantoor voor de Statistiek.

Djoko Suryo et al. (1999). Dari Revolusi ke Reformas: 50 Tahun Universitas Gadjah Mada. Yogyakarta: Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan Pariwisata UGM.

Edi Subkhan. (2018). “Ideologi, Kekuasaan dan Pengaruhnya pada Arah Sistem Pendidikan Nasional Indonesia (1950-1965)”, Journal of Indonesian History 7 (1), 19-34.

Feith, Herbert. (1962). The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Kementerian Penerangan. (1950). Rentjana Mass Education. Jakarta: Kementerian Penerangan

———(1953). Republik Indonesia: Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: Kementerian Penerangan.

Kementerian Pendidikan, Pengadjaran dan Kebudajaan Republik Indonesia Serikat. (1950). Beberapa Angka jang Mengenai Keadaan Pengadjaran pada Permulaan Tahun Pengadjaran 1949-1950. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan, Pengadjaran dan Kebudajaan.

Koentjaraningrat and Harsja W. Bachtiar. (1975). “Higher Education in the Social Sciences in Indonesia”, in Koentjaraningrat (ed). The Social Sciences in Indonesia. Jakarta: LIPI, 1975, pp. 1-42.

Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri. (1982). Study-Service as a Subsystem in Indonesian Higher Education. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka.

Kroef, Justus M. van der. (1955). “Higher Education in Indonesia”, The Journal of Higher Education 26 (7), pp. 366-375.

Kroef, Justus van der. (1957). “Education in Indonesia”, The Phi Delta Kappan 39 (3), 147-151.

Lindsay, Jennifer. (2012). “Heirs to World Culture 1950-1965: An Introduction”, in Jennifer Lindsay & Maya Liem (eds). Heirs to World Culture: Being Indonesian 1950-1965. Leiden: KITLV Press, pp. 1-27.

Lee Kam Hing. (1995). Education and Politics in Indonesia 1945-1965. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.

M. Hutasoit. (1954). Compulsory Education in Indonesia. Paris: UNESCO.

Ministry of Education, Instruction and Culture. (1951). Mass Education in Indonesia: A Contribution Based on Our Experience with Reference to Mass Education in Indonesia. Jakarta: Ministry of Education, Instruction and Culture.

Muhammad Yamin. (1954). Usaha-Usaha Pendidikan, Pengadjaran dan Kebudajaan. Medan: Philemon bin Harun Siregar.

Muhammad Yamin. (1954). Djawaban Pemerintah atas Pertanjaan-Pertanjaan Anggota Dewan Perwakilan Rakjat Republik Indonesia tentang Situasi Pendidikan dan Pengadjaran. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan, Kebudajaan dan Pengadjaran.

Nizam. (2006). “Indonesia: The Need for Higher Education Reforms”, in UNESCO (ed). Higher Education in Southeast Asia. Bangkok: UNESCO 2006, pp. 35-68.

Nordholt, Henk Schulte. (2011). “Indonesia in the 1950s: Nation, Modernity, and the Post-colonial State”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 167 (4), 386-404.

Pauker, Guy J. (1968). “How and Why Indonesia Should Receive Economic Aid from the United States”, Summer Conference on Political Development, Massachusetts, 24 June-3 August.

Ricklefs, M.C. (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2008.

Reid, Anthony. (2011). To Nation by Revolution: Indonesia in the 20th Century. Singapore: National University Press.

Sardjito. (1952). Laporan Tahunan Universitit Negeri Gadjah Mada bagi Tahun Pengadjaran 1951/1950. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Fonds Universitit Negeri Gadjah Mada.

———(1953). Laporan Tahunan Universitit Negeri Gadjah Mada bagi Tahun Pengadjaran 1952/1953. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Fonds Universitit Negeri Gadjah Mada.

———(1957). Laporan Tahunan Universitas Gadjah Mada bagi Tahun Pengadjaran 1957/1958. Yogyakarta: Universitas Gadjah Mada.

———(1950). Pidato Dies Natalis Universitit Negri Gadjah Mada Jogjakarta 19 Desember 1950. Yogyakarta: Universitit Negri Gadjah Mada.

———(1955). Laporan Tahunan Presiden Universitas Gadjah Mada Mengenai Tahun Pengadjaran 1954/1955. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Badan Penerbit Gadjah Mada.

——— (1956). Laporan Tahunan Universitas Gadjah Mada Tahun Pengadjaran 1955/1956. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Badan Penerbit Gadjah Mada.

Soegarda Poerbakawatja. (1970). Pendidikan dalam Alam Indonesia Merdeka. Jakarta: Gunung Agung.

The Netherlands Indies Government Department of Education. (1948). Education in Indonesia before, during and after the Pacific War. Batavia: Information and Publicity Section.

Thomas, R. Murray. (1973). A Chronicle of Indonesian Higher Education: The First Half Century 1920-1970. Singapore: Chopmen Enterprises.

Thomas, R. Murray. (1966). “Educational Remnants of Military Occupation: The Japanese in Indonesia”, Asian Survey 6 (11) Nov., 630-642.

Vickers, Adrian. (2008). “Mengapa Tahun 1950-an Penting bagi Kajian Indonesia”, in Henk Schulte Nordholt, Bambang Purwanto, and Ratna Saptari (eds). Perspektif baru Penulisan Sejarah Indonesia. Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, KITLV-Jakarta, & Pustaka Larasan, pp. 67-78.

Voorlichting Afdeeling. (1947). Pidato2 Radio Batavia: Lezingen. Jakarta: Departement van Onderwijs en Eeredienst.

Wal, S.L van der. (1961). Some Information on Education in Indonesia up to 1942: With a Bibliography. The Hague: NUFFIC.

Y.B. Mangunwijaya. (1992). Balada Dara-Dara Mendut. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Dinamika Edukasi Dasar.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/lembaran-sejarah.69968

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 2690 | views : 2048

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Lembaran Sejarah

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


ISSN 2620-5882(online) | © 2024 Lembaran Sejarah

View My Stats