sekolah rakyat

Indonesian

Etymology

Compound of sekolah (“school”) +‎ rakyat (“people”), from calque from Japanese 國民學校(こくみんがっこう) (kokumingakkō, literally “people school”), from calque of German Volksschule (“primary school”, literally “people-school”). Cognate of Korean 국민학교 (gungminhakgyo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [səˈkolah ˈraʔjat̚]
• Hyphenation: sê‧ko‧lah‧rak‧yat

Noun

sekolah rakyat

1. (education, obsolete) elementary school (US), primary school (UK)

Usage notes

The term was used officially from 1941 to 13 March 1946 during Japanese colonial period, later replaced by the term sekolah dasar.

Synonyms

• sekolah rendah (before 1941)
• sekolah rakyat (1941-1946)
• sekolah dasar (since 1946)

Further reading

• “sekolah rakyat” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.