Roblessio Natio Aquinas Situmorang 25

Saad Bin Abi Waqqash 26

Shafiyah Namira 28
Ki Hajar Dewantara

His name is written in our history as the first education ministry and as a figure who had
dedicated his life to build the foundation of education in Indonesia. Raden Suryadi
Suryaningrat or better known as Ki Hajar Dewantara, was born in Yogyakarta on May 2,
1889. He was a descendant of the Pakualam nobility.
Because he was the descended from nobles, he had the opportunity to attend in ELS or Dutch
elementary schools. When He first went to school, he asked his father why people from his
country did not get an education like him. Starting from this, the mindset about equal rights in
obtaining education. Ki Hajar Dewantara also had a chance to get education in STOVIA or
medical school for Pribumi or indigenous people of Indonesia. Because he was sick, he didn’t
finish his education in STOVIA and decided to be a journalist. Because of his critics in some
Dutch colonialism’ policies when he was a journalist, he was exiled to Dutch for some years.
In dutch he learnt the theory of education based on Froebel and Montessorys’theory that later
became a base in developing education in Indonesia. In 1919, when he came back to
Indonesia, he joined in his brother’s educational foundation and worked as a teacher. In 3
Juli 1922, he established the Nationaal Onderwijs Instituut Tamansiswa or national institute
of Taman Siswa. The main principle of Taman Siswa is to develop an equal right to get
eduacation. Because of his dedication in education, he was titled as the father of Indonesian
education.
Ki Hajar Dewantara is not only dedicated to education, he is also active in raising nationalism
and the importance of unity, especially among Javanese people. He also initiated the first
Boedi Utomo congress. He was also an active member of the Insuline organization, an
organization that fought for self-government in the Dutch East Indies. He died in Yogyakarta
on 26 April 1959 and was buried in Wijaya Brata Park. Because he dedicated his whole life
for his country, President Soekarto inaugurated him as the national hero on November 28,
1959. His Birthday, May, 02, 1889, became the national education day.