Indonesia adopted democracy and the presidential system when it gained
independence from the Netherlands in 1945. A general election is held every
five years to select parliamentary members and a president. Joko Widodo, in
power at the time of publication, is the seventh president of Indonesia.
Two major upheavals have impacted Indonesian political affairs since
independence. The first was the three-year period leading up to the
installation of the country’s second president. In 1965, a conflict between the
Indonesian army and the Communist Party resulted in the killing of seven top
army leaders. Political unrest subsequently grew, involving the three major
political groups: Nationalists, Muslims and Communists. At the same time,
the country also experienced severe economic problems that led university
students to demonstrate against the government. In 1968, through a process
that remains controversial, General Suharto took over the country’s leadership
from Sukarno and became the country’s second president. Suharto formed a
strong government, known as the New Order.
The second upheaval was during the period leading up to the change of
government in 1998. The global economic crisis of 1997 and factors such
as corruption within the bureaucracy led to distrust of Suharto’s regime.
Following a massive student demonstration all over Indonesia, Suharto
resigned in 1998. The country subsequently embraced a new political era,
known as the Reformation Era. Since 1998, the Indonesian political system has
given more freedom to people of different ideological and political positions,
enabling them to express their ideas and opinions.
Overview of Indonesia’s education system
Prior to independence, Indonesia had three kinds of education: Dutch
government schools, indigenous secular schools and religious schools.
The government schools were established to facilitate a proper education
for Dutch children and indigenous elites, while indigenous secular schools
were established by local activists to provide access to education for less-
privileged indigenous Indonesians. These secular schools instilled a spirit of
nationalism into young people. Religious schools were established with the
aim of maintaining religious values in society.
Following independence, the Indonesian government adopted the secular
system as the country’s education system, but also retained religious schools.
This was considered important because during the early post-independence
era there was intense debate over various issues, including whether