After the completion of his education, Sarino joined Taman Siswa as a teacher. He remained in the organization for thirteen years, most of his time being spent as a head teacher in a Pemalang branch of the school. Prior to his move to Pemalang, he had joined the Indonesia Party and ran political courses for Taman Siswa pupils. He moved to Pati and founded a fisheries cooperative after the Taman Siswa schools were shut down during the Japanese occupation. During the Indonesian National Revolution, Sarino was active as a member of the Indonesian National Party, founding a branch in Pati and being elected to its central leadership in 1948. After the end of hostilities, Sarino became a member of the Senate of the United States of Indonesia, representing Central Java, and after its dissolution he joined the People's Representative Council. He was later appointed as chairman of PNI's Central Java branch in 1956. Sarino was also elected into the People's Representative Council following the 1955 election, but he resigned after less than a month in office. In the early 1950s, he had also re-founded and taught in a secondary school under the Taman Siswa name in Semarang, and participated in journalism by editing the Tanah Air daily newspaper. Sarino was appointed as Minister of Teaching, Education and Culture in the Second Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet, and held his position from 24 March 1956 to 14 March 1957. He was also member of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia between 1956 and 1959. Later, he rejoined the People's Representative Council in 25 June 1960, but he was honorably discharged from the body by presidential decision, effective on 11 August 1962, and he was posted to Hungary as ambassador until 1966. He later returned to being Minister of Education and Culture in the Second Revised Dwikora Cabinet between 27 March and 25 July 1966, and following Suharto's takeover, Sarino continued to be Minister of Education in the Ampera Cabinet, where he served between 25 July 1966 and 11 October 1967.
Views and works
He was described by an acquaintance as a "natural educator". Among his published writings, he wrote about the educational value of children's play, development of a national educational system, informal education, and ideas of Ki Hajar Dewantara. In one attempt to combine formal and nonformal education, he founded a "Farming High School" in Ungaran in 1961, and he also founded further schools throughout his life.
Death
Sarino died on 17 January 1983, when he was delivering a speech in Jakarta. He was buried at the Wijaya Brata Cemetery, a cemetery reserved for people associated with the Taman Siswa. At the time of his death, he had five sons and a daughter.
