Public School in Watopute and the Dynamic Development, 1925-2021

Abstract

This research examines Watopute Grammar School and its development dynamics from 1925-2021. The specific aims of the study are (1) to explain the background to the founding of the school; (2) to describe the dynamics of the development of the school in the period of 1925-2021. This research uses the historical method, which consists of five stages of research, namely: (a) Selection of topics, (b) Heuristics, (c) Verification, (d) Interpretation, (e) Historiography. The results of this study show that, first, the establishment of the Watopute Grammar School in 1925 was due to the need for labor by the Dutch East Indies government to become administrative staff, forestry foremen, and teak processing factory workers. In addition, there was a mission from the Dutch East Indies government to improve the quality of human resources, especially the Muna nobilities, because they had an essential role in the area. Second is the dynamics of the development of the grammar school; During the Dutch East Indies era, the school was known as Volkshool. Teaching staff were brought in from Ambon and Manado, while students were from various districts in Muna. In the teaching and learning process at the school using simple facilities and infrastructure, the curriculum consists of alphabet, Indonesian, conversation, and arithmetic subjects. During the Japanese period, the Watopute Grammar School did not experience significant changes and only occurred in the field of curriculum. Japan uses a curriculum consisting of subjects, Japanese language, history, natural sciences, geography, regional languages, physical education, and Indonesian. After independence, Watopute Grammar School underwent a name change starting from SDN 5 Raha in 1946, the name changed to SDN 6 Kontunaga in 2001, and it became SDN 1 Watopute in 2014.