The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry’s “Merdeka Belajar” (Freedom in Learning) programme has heralded a new phase of freedom for educational institutions and educators to innovate through new-fangled learning approaches that respect local wisdom.
The programme has also brought a breath of fresh air to educational institutions in East Nusa Tenggara Province that are struggling to conduct classes for early-age students whose native languages are not Indonesian.
Students living in remote areas and seldom speaking Indonesian outside school are struggling to keep up with school subjects that are taught in the language that they do not understand.
According to the province’s Education and Culture Office, some 1.3 million school-age children in the province are not enrolled in any schools due to several issues, primarily the language barrier.
Utilising the mother language in the early stages of primary school level, by spoken and written means, is essential to develop a literacy foundation and instil basic concepts that students must understand to broaden their perspective.
Comprehending the benefits of using mother language as the medium of instruction during class activities, the Nagekeo district authority in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, has allowed local languages to be used as the medium of instruction at 10 primary schools in Boawae Sub-district to enhance the school experience of pupils and alleviate the language barrier issue encountered in class activities.
“We have around 10 primary schools that become the model for the implementation of mother language in school activities in Nagekeo District,” district head Johanes Don Bosco Do noted in a webinar on the use of mother languages in class activities on Tuesday (Mar 8).
Don Bosco said his administration currently focuses on increasing attendance levels at 158 early-age schools, 180 primary schools, and 62 junior high schools in the district.
Following positive response from residents to the programme that has been implemented since 2021, the authority decided to allow 20 more schools to utilise the pupils’ mother language as the medium of instruction, and as of 2022, around 30 primary schools have shifted their medium of instruction to cater to their pupils.
He called on the Nagekeo authority to make thorough preparations before allowing designated schools to switch their medium of instruction to local languages. After identifying eligible schools, the authority continued the process by conducting training on teaching concepts and studying the plan to school teachers and creating visual props for class activities to help pupils understand new concepts that their teacher taught.
The district’s school superintendent, Petrus Buku, stated that the pupils’ native language is used in class games and songs, and each pupil will receive a study book to bolster their study.
“Class activities will involve playing games and singing songs in local languages that would motivate pupils to study. Pupils will also receive study books that will help them learn the alphabet,” Buku remarked.
The superintendent noted that as compared to schools that do not utilise the pupils’ mother language in class activities, pupils taught in their mother language could learn to read faster.
Source: Antara News