The Origins of Universities and Higher Education in Indonesia

Purpose of Early Universities

One of the main purposes of the early universities was to educate the future clergy. Thus, most, although not all, of the students were priests or on their way to become priests. This is connected to the fact that the universities evolved from church schools.

Subjects and Students

During the early times, only arts, law, medicine, and theology were available as subjects. In those courses, there were also no electives, but everyone had to study the same prescribed courses. The language of instruction was only Latin, regardless of the location of the university, which helped in the mobility of the scientists.

Further Explanation

The history of higher education in Indonesia began when the government of the Dutch East Indies imposed an Ethical Policy, one of which was education. The educational programs promoted the emergence of schools that were originally only primary schools for learning to read, write, and count. These schools later expanded to secondary schools and universities. This university later became the precursor to the development of universities and faculties in Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya.

In 1849, the Dutch colonial government built a secondary health science school in Batavia. In 1898, the school changed its name to School Tot Opleiding van Indische Artsen (School of Medicine for Indigenous Doctors) or known as STOVIA. After successfully providing education for future doctors in Indonesia, the Dutch government eventually rebuilt four other secondary schools in various cities in Java. These schools were the pillars in the creation of an emergency University that was built in 1946.

Details

Class: High School

Subject: History

Keywords: higher education

Con que objetivo nacieron las universidades? Explica quienes estudiaban en ellas y que estudios curzaban. Una de los principales objetivos de las universidades tempranas era educar al futuro clero. Así, la mayoría, aunque no todos, de los estudiantes eran sacerdotes o estaban en camino de convertirse en sacerdotes. Esto está conectado con el hecho de que las universidades evolucionaron a partir de escuelas eclesiásticas. Durante los primeros tiempos, las únicas materias disponibles eran artes, derecho, medicina y teología. En esos cursos, tampoco había optativas, sino que todos debían estudiar los mismos cursos prescritos. El idioma de instrucción era solo latín, independientemente de la ubicación de la universidad, lo que también ayudó en la movilidad de los científicos.
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