Sejarah Perkembangan Taman Pendidikan Islam (TPI) di Sumatera Utara (1950-1966)

Abstract

This research explores the historical development of Taman Pendidikan Islam (TPI) between 1950 and 1966. The study aims to: (1) examined the state of Islamic education in North Sumatra prior to the establishment of TPI; (2) investigated the motivations, processes, and progress of TPI's establishment in the region; and (3) evaluate TPI's contributions to the advancement of Islamic education in North Sumatra during the specified period. This research adopted sociologicals approach, employing the concepts of religious movements and Islamic education as analytical frameworks. The historicals method was used to encompassing the stages of source collection (heuristics), source evaluation (criticism), interpretation, and historical writing (historiography). The data sources include interviews with contemporaneous figures and TPI administrators, archives, official documents, TPI reports, correspondence, books, newspapers from this era, and other relevant literature. These sources were critically examined, interpreted, and reconstructed to form a coherent historical narrative. During the early of Indonesian independence, Islamic education in North Sumatra was still very limited, especially in plantation and rural areas. Meanwhile, urban areas such as Medan have developed quite a bit, especially through Islamic organizations such as Al-Washliyah and Muhammadiyah. The plantation areas in North Sumatra are quite large, and are the main foreign exchange earners. The workers are dominated by contract laborers from Java who eventually settled permanently. During the Dutch colonial period until the beginning of Indonesian independence, plantation workers lived in poverty and isolation, lacking in terms of education including religious education. Therefore, TPI, which was founded on May 1, 1950 by Rivai Abdul Manap Nasution, focused its activities on establishing madrasahs in the plantation areas of North Sumatra, Aceh, and Riau. In 17 months (May 1, 1950–September 1951), TPI succeeded in establishing 33 Madrasah Ibtidaiyah units in 31 plantations, involving 43 teachers and educating 2,899 students. In 1963, it developed into 160 Madrasah Rendah (Ibtidaiyah) TPI in plantations. TPI's contribution in North Sumatra includes the establishment of madrasahs in plantation areas, the implementation of Tri Karya Program (tabligh da'wah, education and culture, and social worship), increasing the religious understanding of plantation communities, developing teaching staff through PGAP and PGAA secondary schools, and improving the welfare of TPI teachers, whose salaries are equivalent to plantation office staff. This is a brilliant activity to increase educated human resources in North Sumatra & Aceh.