Figure 1.-- We believe this may be a Dutch East Indies school The girls are teenagers. The photograph was taken on Dutch colonial Bali just before the Japanese invasion (October 1941). We do not know the name of the school or who sponsored it. With the girls look to be Dutch teachers and either local teachers or their wives. What is notable is that the Dutch colonial authorities did not impose western style clothing, even at a school. We are even unsure if this would be a statec or a mission school. We are not entirely sure that this is a school group. Another possibility is a dance group. Given the uniformity, there was clearly some kind of dress code involved. The reader who forwarded the photo tells us, "The source showing the photo speaks about Dutch teachers, but unfortunately there is no detailed description of the photo."

The Dutch did not found a mass public education system, but they did eventually begin to create an educational infrastructure. The early Dutch period involved the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which gave very little attention to education. As Dutch families appeared, schools were bneeded for the children. What education that was organized was done by the Dutch Reformed Church and was Dutch, Indo (Dutch-Indonesian), Asian (non-Indonesians, mostly Chinese) children. There were regional differences. The Moluccas was a little different. No effort was made to educate Indonesian children. The Dutch colonial government which replaced the VOC took over the VOC schools and begin to consider the education of Indonesians. What developed in the colony was a veery diverse, complicated system. The first tenative steps were taken in Java during the early-19th century. The Dutch Government began founding both Dutch-lamguage (primary and secondary schools) and indigenous language (primary schools). Upper class Indonesians might attend the Dutch-language schools. Dutch officials made some attempt to involve Muslim schools which were almost entirely religious in caracter in the efforts to broaden educational opportunity. This included langgar schools (Koranic recitations) and pesantren (broader Islamic religious studies). Schools during the colonial period also included Chinese schools and mission schools (both Protestant and Catholic). The colonial government gradually expanded its support of schools as the century progressed. [Aritonang] The system that developed included both Sutch anhd Indinesian schools. The Dutch schools were for the Dutch children, including the children of mixed marriages--almost always Dutch men abdc Indonesian women. Also admitted were children of the Indonesian upper class. A separate less academically rigorous system of schools was established based on ethnicity. There were separate schools for Indonesians, Arabs, and Chinese with instruction taught in Dutch with a Dutch curriculum. Schools were also established for ordinary Indonesians with a very basic curruculum. They were educated in what was at the time described as the Malay language , wwhat is now Indinesian. A Roman alphabet wa used. Special 'link' schools were set up to prepare bright Indonesian students from humble families for entry into the more demanding Dutch-language schools. The Dutch also opened vocational schools. The programs were designed to train Indonesians for needed roles in the colonial economy. Chinese and Arabs desinated 'foreign orientals' were not allowed to enroll in the vocational or primary schools.

Dutch East India Company (VOC) (1500-1800)

The early Dutch period involved the Dutch East India Company (VOC) which gave very little attention to education. As Dutch families appeared, schools were bneeded for the children. What education that was organized was done by the Dutch Reformed Church and was Dutch, Indo (Dutch-Indonesian), Asian (non-Indonesians, mostly Chinese) children. There were regional differences. The Moluccas was a little different. No effort was made to educate Indonesian children. After several centuries, the VIC was bankrupted by the Napoleonic Wars. The company was formally dissolved (1800). The company's territorial possessions in the Indonesian archipelago (including much of Java, parts of Sumatra, much of Maluku, and the hinterlands of ports such as Makasar, Manado, and Kupang) were nationalized under the French-controlled Dutch Republic as the Dutch East Indies.

Dutch Colony (1815-1949)

The Congress of Vienna restored the Dutch monarchy (1815). Dutch colonial offucials which replaced the VOC after the Napoleonic Wars took over the VOC schools and begin to consider the education of Indonesians. What developed in the colony was a veery diverse, complicated system. The first tenative steps were taken in Java during the early-19th century. The Dutch Government began founding both Dutch-lamguage (primary and secondary schools) and indigenous language (primary schools). Upper class Indonesians might attend the Dutch-language schools. Dutch officials made some attempt to involve Muslim schools which were almost entirely religious in caracter in the efforts to broaden educational opportunity. This included langgar schools (Koranic recitations) and pesantren (broader Islamic religious studies). Schools during the colonial period also included Chinese schools and mission schools (both Protestant and Catholic). The colonial government gradually expanded its support of schools as the century progressed. [Aritonang] The system that developed included both Sutch anhd Indinesian schools. The Dutch schools were for the Dutch children, including the children of mixed marriages--almost always Dutch men abdc Indonesian women. Also admitted were children of the Indonesian upper class. A separate less academically rigorous system of schools was established based on ethnicity. There were separate schools for Indonesians, Arabs, and Chinese with instruction taught in Dutch with a Dutch curriculum. Schools were also established for ordinary Indonesians with a very basic curruculum. They were educated in what was at the time described as the Malay language , wwhat is now Indinesian. A Roman alphabet wa used. Special 'link' schools were set up to prepare bright Indonesian students from humble families for entry into the more demanding Dutch-language schools. [Taylor, p. 286.] The Dutch also opened vocational schools. The programs were designed to train Indonesians for needed roles in the colonial economy. Chinese and Arabs desinated 'foreign orientals' were not allowed to enroll in the vocational or primary schools. [Taylor, p. 287.]

Sources

Aritonang, Jan S. Mission Schools in Batakland (Indonesia), 1861-1940.

Taylor, Jean Gelman. Indonesia: Peoples and Histories (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003).