There were 2.9 million children, even though our target was only 1.4 million students.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry's Language Development and Guidance Agency has reported that 2.9 million primary and middle school students were involved in regional language revitalization learning in 2022.

"There were 2.9 million children, even though our target was only 1.4 million students," the agency's head E. Aminudin Aziz highlighted during a media briefing here on Monday.

He informed that last year's revitalization program targeted 39 regional languages and 157 districts/cities of 13 provinces, which was an increase from just 5 languages the previous year.

The 5 languages from the 2021 program were included in the 2022 revitalization program to help the government ensure the sustainability and vitality of the languages.

Meanwhile, the revitalization of 39 regional languages in 2022 involved 2,016 supervisors, which was also above the government's estimation of 1,300 supervisors.

Moreover, there were 104,112 headmasters and teachers as well as 33,764 regional language activists who were also involved in the 2022 revitalization program.

Meanwhile, the Mother Tongue Budding Festival (FTBI) was joined by 6,167 primary as well as middle school children and recorded 15,405 visitors, who comprised education officials, assistant teachers, and students' families.

Aziz also highlighted people's enthusiasm for the regional language revitalization program, which also received support from regional governments and the House of Representatives (DPR).

In the beginning, revitalization was conducted for regional languages in 12 provinces, however, during a meeting, many members of DPR’s Commission X sought the revitalization of their regional languages.

He told the members that the government could not increase the number of regional languages in the 2022 program due to budget limitations.

However, the DPR Commission X members along with regional governments ended up providing financing support to ensure their regional languages could be covered by the revitalization program.

"The rate of the participation is extraordinary and staggering," he remarked.

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Translator: Astrid F H, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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