Peranan Wanita Dalam Membangunkan Pendidikan Perempuan di Sarawak, 1880-1963 (The Role of Women in Developing Female Education in Sarawak, 1880-1963)

The emergence of formal education in Sarawak began with the arrival of westerners, especially the Christian churches. These parties have set up many schools throughout Sarawak. Therefore, in every writing related to the history of education in Sarawak, the names of westerners are often held up as heroes who developed the education of the Sarawak community. Whereas, the names of local people, especially women, are rarely highlighted. Therefore, this study is conducted to examine the status and role of women in Sarawak in developing the state’s education, particularly the education of girls. This study was carried out using qualitative methods through document analysis on primary and secondary sources. The results of the study found that although education in Sarawak was developing, the position of women in education was still low. This is considering that women still lag behind in education compared to men. This can be seen by comparing the number of male and female students in Sarawak. In fact, even until the state’s independence, men still dominated the education sector. In the meantime, this study also proves that local women also contributed to the development of education in the state. This can be seen through the role and efforts played by educated women such as Dayang Sa’adah (Sahada) binti Datu Patinggi Ghafur, Lily Eberwein Abdullah, Barbara Mendu Bay, Tra Zehnder, Ajibah Abol, Sharifah Rehanah Syed Razali and Chi Mei Shi. Realizing the importance of education causes them to strive to raise the dignity of society through education. In fact, the women were willing to use their own money and property. The action is done with all sincerity to ensure that the community gets proper education.