Can you imagine being a student nowadays, you are in high school, for example, and your teacher explains chemistry or physics or mathematics in local dialects such as Batak?
Long ago, in the Netherlands East Indies, later on INDONESIA, it was a common practice. Local dialects were the language used at schools particularly at Inlandsche Schools.
There were different kinds of school during that colonial era such as ELS (Europeesche Lagere School) HCS (Hollandsch Chineesche School), MULO (Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs), AMS (Algemeene Middelbare School).
Dutch was the language used at these schools, some were available for the non-Europeans, some were not.
Hoogere Burgerschool (HBS), founded in 1863 only for Dutch, European, Chinese and local elite. Soekarno was one of the students at HBS in Surabaya.
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 In 1866, J.A. van der Chijs, the Inspector for Bumiputra Education, visited Mandailing in Batak Land. He witnessed how Willem Iskander (Sati Nasution) taught physics in class using Mandailing dialect at Kweekschool voor Inlandsche Onderwijers. This a kind of school, in that era, where students were trained to become teacher. At this school, students learned their local dialects, Dutch and Malay.
The inspector was pleased seeing the progress of the Kweekschool founded by Willem Iskander 4 years earlier, in 1862. The students there were not only fluent in Mandailing dialect but also in Malay and Dutch.
The Kweekschool in Mandailing was then established by ven der Chijs as the pilot project for the whole East Indies due to its quality as the best at that time.
Willem Iskander, was born on March 1840. At 17 years of age, he left East Indies to continue his study in the Netherlands. He returned in 1861. Arriving in Batavia, he met up with the governor general, Sloet van den Boele. In 1862, returning back home to Mandailing, he founded the Kweekschool.
Willem Iskander played an important role in educating the locals, inspiring people to being aware of what was going on at that time. His work in educational field was significant for the national awaking process, as we can see how those who studied at schools there participating in the making of a country, named INDONESIA.
