Taman Siswa

The education policy under Dutch colonial regime was set up to merely provide workers and to ready Indonesians to become a Dutch industry marketplace. On July 3, 1922, Ki Hajar Dewantara set up Taman Siswa Institution in Yogyakarta as a political reaction to this policy. This institution expanded rapidly, causing apprehension among the Dutch authorities. In 1932, the Dutch government issued an ordinance regulating the activities of non government schools, known as ordinance of illegal schools, practically making private schools lose their legitimacy. Protests sprang up causing the Dutch to revoke the ordinance. In 1935, the first National Congress on Education was held with the objective of amassing national unity and to formulate a teaching and education system that was nationalistic in nature.