Indonesian Govt Urged to Help Prevent Extinction of Local Languanges

Jakarta (Antara) - The government should prevent the extinction of local languages by including them in the educational curriculum, an academician urged. "Concrete actions are needed to preserve the local languages, for instance, by issuing clear regulations. Do not let any more local languages to become extinct," Dean of the University of Cendrawasih Nomensen Mambraku stated while addressing a seminar here on Wednesday. He stressed on the importance of a lesson on local language being made compulsory for the students. He even suggested that the students and teachers should speak the local languages in the classrooms. In the seminar organized by Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Language and the Indonesian Education and Culture Ministry, Sheldon Shaeffer, SEAMEO QITEP in Language's consultant, said that 330 local languages across Indonesia were on the brink of extinction. "There are 330 local languages on the brink of extinction in Indonesia, and most of them are languages of minority ethnic groups," Shaeffer pointed out. In Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, several children could no longer communicate with their parents as they could not converse in their local language. In order to help preserve the local languages, Shaeffer was of the viewpoint that local languages should be spoken in classrooms, particularly in the case of elementary school and kindergarten students. Bambang Indriyanto of the Education and Culture Ministry remarked that the usage of local languages in school has been protected under the existing regulations. "The Law No 20/2003 on National Education System has guaranteed the preservation of local languages," he affirmed. The SEAMEO is a regional intergovernmental organization established in 1965 among the governments of Southeast Asian countries to promote regional cooperation in education, science, and culture in the region. According to information available on the website of Ethnologue.com, there are 719 individual languages listed for Indonesia. Of these, 706 are living and 13 are extinct. Of the living languages, 19 are institutional, 86 are developing, 261 are vigorous, 265 are in trouble, and 75 are dying. (*)