"Next year, we will add the province; there will be those in Sumatra (island) such as Lampung, Bengkulu, then Aceh will also be included so that the provinces increase to 17 provinces. Then, if I'm not mistaken, the language is 50 or 52 languages," Head of the ministry's Language Development Agency E. Aminudin Aziz informed during an online discussion on Thursday.
According to him, the community has been highly enthusiastic about the local language revitalization. Initially, the ministry tested the program in three provinces that have the most speakers of local languages, namely West Java, Central Java, and South Sulawesi.
However, other provinces also wanted their local languages to be revitalized, he added.
For that reason, this year, the ministry is covering 39 local languages and under the program, including North Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, and West Sulawesi.
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"The community was also very excited to revitalize their local languages. Therefore, we looked for a budget and human resources," he said.
He further explained that the ministry has bolstered collaboration with language and literature activist communities, local language teacher communities, and even religious leaders. Thus, the revitalization program is not only being carried out in schools but also at village centers, local cultural centers, and places of worship.
He said that the participation of the community has left the ministry impressed.
"Thankfully, the ministry is positive about this program; regional governments are also very positive," he remarked.
Aziz expressed the hope that there will be more regional governments that have a positive attitude toward the preservation of local languages so that the revitalization of local languages can be carried out in more provinces.
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Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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