Education
At the start of the twentieth century, the number of secondary educated Indonesians was almost negligible and from this time on, the Ethical Period saw the colonial government expand secondary educational opportunities to indigenous Indonesians. In 1925, the government's focus shifted to the provision of a widespread three-year elementary vocational education.
In 1940, over 2 million students were attending such schools which is thought to have improved the 6.3 per cent literacy rate recorded in the 1930 census. Dutch medium education opened new horizons and opportunities, and was in strong demand by Indonesians.
In 1940, 65,000 to 80,000 Indonesian students were in Dutch and Dutch-supported primary schools, equivalent to 1 per cent of the relevant age group. Around the same time, there were 7,000 Indonesian students in Dutch medium secondary schools. The vast majority of students attended intermediate MULO schools.
Although the numbers of enrolled students were small compared to the relevant age, the Dutch medium educated was of high quality and from the 1920s began to produce a new educated Indonesian elite.
Read more about this topic: Indonesian National Awakening
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“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worth while. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.”
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