Policy: Primary ELT Programmes in Indonesia
English has become a very important medium of communication in the world because of its position as an international language as well as the language of technology. With the increasingly globalization of the world and increasingly rapid technological advances, it cannot be denied that mastery of the English language is one of the keys to getting better work opportunities or success. Based on this, Indonesia as part of the world community realizes the importance of mastering English, therefore the teaching of English has long been applied in the world of Indonesian education.
English has long been an inseparable part of the education system in Indonesia, which was initially only given to higher levels of education, but over time the need and popularity of English has increased, resulting in a change in the curriculum for teaching English. With the aim of improving the ability and mastery of English for students, the government finally began to introduce English lessons at lower levels of education, namely at the basic education level.
English as a foreign language in Indonesia has started to become a concern, especially in the area of basic education since the early '90s, based on the awareness of the importance of learning English as early as possible to be able to compete in an increasingly modern and global world. This awareness eventually led the government to issue a policy through the Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia (Depdikbud RI) No. 0487/1992, Chapter VIII which states that elementary school can add subjects to its curriculum (Kulsum, 2016). This policy ultimately underlies the inclusion of English as part of local content in elementary schools.
In general, local content subjects are filled with regional languages, but along with the public's awareness of the importance of English, many elementary schools finally added English as local content. With the local content program, it is hoped that elementary school graduates who do not continue their studies will have more skills in the form of foreign languages which can be used to make a living (Sutarsya, 2017).
In subsequent developments, the local content of English for elementary schools is increasingly recognized as being mentioned in the Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) of 2006. Based on Permendiknas Number 22 of 2006 concerning Content Standards and Permendiknas Number 23 of 2006 concerning Graduate Competency Standards, English is one of the local content is mandatory for all elementary school students from grade I to grade VI with the learning time allocation provided is 2x35 minutes of study hours per week (Kalsum, 2016). With KTSP, almost all elementary schools in Indonesia include English as local content even though initially English was only taught in grades IV-VI, it becomes taught in all classes starting from grade I.
A drastic change to the English language local content position in elementary schools then occurred in 2012 when the government planned to replace KTSP with the 2013 curriculum. This new curriculum was structured based on the passion to implement a more democratic education program (Zein, 2017). The 2013 curriculum puts forward an equal and student-centered education model to be more involved in the learning process. This curriculum prioritizes the right to freedom of learning while still upholding religious, cultural and national diversity values.
With the plan to implement the 2013 curriculum, many experts argue that basic education should focus more on the development of children's character through religious and cultural values that have become norms in the State of Indonesia. This view then changes the structure of basic education where before children must emphasize teaching about the religious and cultural values of the State before they are exposed to foreign cultures (English). In addition, many people think that learning a foreign language will allow the loss of their own language (Indonesian). Therefore, it is recommended that English is not part of teaching in elementary schools.
In mid-2013, the government began introducing the 2013 curriculum by appointing 2,598 model schools for primary school levels throughout Indonesia (Zein, 2017). Curriculum changes that were not sufficiently prepared and suddenly caused many problems in the field. The readiness of human resources and supporting facilities that were not enough was a difficult problem at the beginning of its implementation. Many schools are not ready for changes to the curriculum structure and learning.
In addition to the readiness of schools to implement the new curriculum, there is another thing that is also no less complicated, namely the elimination of local content English for elementary schools. In Permendikbud No. 67 of 2013 concerning the primary school curriculum pages 9 - 10, did not mention the existence of English subjects in elementary schools. From here, various questions arise regarding the implementation of English subjects in elementary schools, whether it is included as local content (such as regional languages) or as extra-curricular. In addition, if the local English content is eliminated, what about the fate of the English teachers in schools.
Based on the above problems, in 2014 the ministry of education made a revision to the 2013 curriculum to improve the existing curriculum where the curriculum was still applied to model schools. meanwhile, schools that are not ready in structure and resources can apply KTSP as a teaching guide. With this situation, schools that use KTSP still include English as local content, even for some schools that have implemented the 2013 curriculum, they still include English as local content.
Reference:
Faridatuunnisa, I. 2020. Kebijakan dan Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris untuk SD di Indonesia. Univ. Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa
(https://jurnal.ustjogja.ac.id/index.php/semnas2020/article/view/7510/3475)
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