Blog # 11: Indonesia to end teaching of English in Primary Schools

This article is about Indonesia banning English language classes until students get to junior high. The Deputy of Education and the culture minister Musliar Kasim made it clear in the country that there will no longer be any English classes in elementary schools beginning in July. The government is taking this action because there is evidence that the students are doing very well in the English language classes and slacking in their Bahasa language classes (the language spoken in Indonesia). The officials believe that it isn’t right for the students to know more about the English language while not really focusing on their own language. They believe that the children should spend more time mastering their first language instead of English. They have discovered that when the students get to high school they are beginning to fail their Bahasa language matriculation. Not only are they eliminating the English language classes but they are also about to implement a curriculum that includes religious beliefs and the culture of the country which will cut into the time of the sciences as well as the social studies.
            I’m not sure if this is the best solution in Indonesia because it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the students test schools and competence of Bahasa will increase. It could also be a bad thing because if they start learning English at a later age they might not be able to retain as much which hurts those that plan to come to America looking for a job. I agree that maybe more emphasis should be placed on their own language because if the children don’t know Bahasa they won’t be able to communicate with the people in their country. I think there could have been a compromise where they limit the amount of English language classes that a student can take in primary education that way they could still have an opportunity to learn English but it wouldn’t become the main focus. 

 I completely disagree with the culture minister cutting down science and social studies to teach more culture and religion because those subjects are important, especially science. In my opinion, the culture minister will be depriving the children of important information if he alters the curriculum to incorporate more culture and religion and less science and social studies because culture and religion can be taught at home.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/nov/13/elt-diary-november-indonesia-english