Biography of
Ki Hajar Dewantara
Ki Hajar Dewantara was
borned from a noble family by
the name Raden Mas Suwardi
Surjaningrat. He was a leading
Indonesian independence
movement activist, writer,
columnist, politician, and pioneer of
education for native Indonesians
in Dutch colonial times. He was
also honored as a National
Hero of Indonesia by Indonesia’s
first president, Ir. Soekarno, on
November 1959.
Ki Hajar Dewantara
Given known that he was borned
from a noble family, he was able to
attend the colonial public school.
But, as he continued his study to
STOVIA, he failed to graduate due
to his sickness. Despite failing to
graduate his study, he manages to
establish a school with his brother
in his native hometown. This proved
his education background and
teaching experiences to be useful on
developing the concept for teaching
in school, as he founded the national
college. During the colonization
time, education was not made
available for native commoners.
And so, because of that, Soewardi
decides to establish Taman Siswa
School in Yogyakarta, a Javanese
educational movement that strive to
provide education for native
population.
When he reached 40 years of age,
he is required to change his name.
Thus he chose the name “Ki Hajar
Dewantara” as his new name. He
also scrapped the Javanese gentility
title Raden Mas in front of his name.
He scrapped his name because he
intended to be freely interacted
with people of all social backgrounds.
Taman Siswa
Ki Hajar Dewantara also has a
famous proverb on describing his
ideals for education. The maxim
reads: Ing ngarso sung tulodo, ing
madyo mangun karso, tut wuri
handayani, which means: For those
in front should set an example, for
those in the middle should raise the
spirit, and for those behind should
give encouragement. The maxim is
used as the principle of Taman Siswa.
Today, part of this maxim , Tut Wuri
Handayani, is used as the motto of
Indonesian Minister of Education.
It was meant to describe an ideal
teacher that transmits knowledge
and gives the students encourage-
ment from behind in their studies.
Ki Hajar Dewantara advocates that
education should be made possible
for all people. He also argued that
education should be based on the
values of common humanity,
human freedom and the rights to
seek knowledge. And to honor his
sacrifices that he made, his birthday
is now celebrated as Indonesian
National Education Day (2 nd of May).
Written By: Venesa Alana Fu/ VIIIB
Notre Dame | April-Juni 2017
31