Edition: Monday, April 08 2013

Balinese language to stay in schools

by Ni Komang Erviani on 2013-04-08

For those worrying about the newly introduced 2013 national education curriculum that removed the Balinese language as a stand-alone subject, good news has been issued by the Education and Culture Ministry. A senior official at the ministry firmly declared that Bali could keep Balinese language on the curriculum if it fulfilled several requirements.

“The official at the ministry said the provincial administration can issue a special policy on maintaining Balinese language as a stand-alone subject on the curriculum, especially for schools in the province. We need a governor decree to manage the subject, obviously,” I Nyoman Suka Ardiyasa, the leader of the alliance of people who care about the local language of Bali, told Bali Daily recently.

He was representing the alliance at a consultation meeting with the Education and Culture Ministry at the ministry’s office in Jakarta last week. The consultation was also attended by representatives of the Bali legislative council and provincial education, youth and sport agency.

The governor’s decree will regulate how the subject would be taught in schools, including how many hours a week students should study the subject.

The ministry official also denied that they would remove the certification program for Balinese language teachers. “They said that they are ready to hold a competency test for Balinese language teachers. But they asked the provincial administration to provide several documents first,” Ardiyasa added.

The governor’s decree will also legislate these competency tests for teachers. The ministry also requires data on the number of Balinese language teachers across the island, public and private universities that have a Balinese program, and a letter from the provincial administration requesting the ministry hold a competency test.

The ministry also asked the provincial administration to revise its 1992 bylaw on Balinese, as it was too old and needed additional points based on current needs. “All requirements, except the bylaw revision, should be fulfilled soon, before the new school year begins. The revised bylaw will need more time,” Ardiyasa said.

“Be grateful that we could keep Balinese on the curriculum. We hope that the Bali administration will seriously fulfill all the documents required by the ministry,” he declared.

Head of the Bali Education, Youth and Sports Agency, Anak Agung Ngurah Gde Sujaya, admitted that the ministry required some documents to keep the language on the curriculum. “We are now working on preparing all the requirements. I hope no one worries about the existence of the language as a stand-alone subject in schools anymore. We will work fast to fulfill all the documents needed,” Sujaya said.

Previously, many students, scholars and community leaders on the island had staged rallies to express their rejection of the new national curriculum designed by the ministry.

The 2013 curriculum stipulates that “local content”, or unique subjects taught only in schools in specific regions, be integrated into the arts and culture classes. The local language is considered local content and so must be merged into the arts and culture lessons, thus limiting students’ opportunities to learn the language. This is applicable to schools from elementary to senior high school level.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika had also conveyed his support for the existence of Balinese on the curriculum. He pledged to fight hard for its continued presence, saying that the language was extremely important for Balinese people.

“It is really important to maintain the Balinese language as it is our local genius. It is extremely different from Indonesian. Balinese is the basis of our culture as it is used in our rituals, so it is really important that it is maintained.”

Pastika stressed that he would soon issue the governor decree as the legal basis for keeping Balinese in the curriculum. “We will issue the regulation soon. I am assured that the process would not take a long time, as it only needs simple discussion. All of us, including the legislative council, have agreed to maintain our language,” Pastika
declared.

In addition to the regulation, the governor will also draft the required revision of the 1992 provincial bylaw on language, letters and literature. The bylaw stipulates the need to teach, develop and preserve the Balinese language.

 sumber ; http://www.thebalidaily.com/2013-04-08/balinese-language-stay-schools.html