Figure 1.--Here we see a boy near Malang in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) with field tools. At the time few Indionesian boys in the countryside attended school. We are not entirely sure what he is wearing, but his belt does not seem to be serving any purpose. We are not sure what is at his feet, apparently possessions he brought into the field. Malang is major city in eastern Java. Java was a rich agricultural island. Notice the tools. These were field tools, nit for a garden plot. With agriculturl tools like this, the productivity and wealth generating capability of the economy was limited, one reason children had to work. It was a commerical post card a Dutch resident sent home to Amsterdam in 1930. Click on the image if you read Dutch.

Indonesia, at the time the Dutch East Indies, was a basically agricultural country until after World War II. Indonesian children, like children throughout the underdevloped world, worked from a very early age. The boys worked with their fathers in the fields. Rice was the principal crop. In the villages boys worked with their fathers in artisan shops. Girls mostly helped their mothers with household chores. Dutch misionaries began founding schools in the 19th century, but only small numbers of children attended. The Dutch Government eventually began opening schools, but on a limited basis. Most children, espcially in the countryside worked until independence was achieved (1949) abd the Indionesian Government began building a public school system. It might be thought that this was the result of Dutch exploitation of its colonies. This was a factor, but the economy was also a factor. An agricultural economy, especially wih the technology prevalent in the DEI, did not generate the same income of an industrial economy. Not only was money not available at the government level, but parents needed the children to work to support the family. Thus Indonesia could not support institutions that industrial economies could generate like public education. For some reason, public school text books in the West connct capitalism with child labor. Just the oppoite is the case. Public schools began as capitalism and industrualization began to transform Europe and Amererica. In Indonesia's case, it was the oil resource that helped build a public school system.

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Created: 7:58 AM 6/14/2018
Last updated: 7:58 AM 6/14/2018