The activity, which presented the language agency's secretary, Hafidz Muksin, Head of the North Sumatra Language Center Hidayat Widiyanto, and House member Sofyan Tan as the speakers, was aimed at formulating policy recommendations.
Muksin said that the dissemination of information on language and literature programs is a strategic step to realize the agency to be more utilitarian.
As a unit under the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry, the agency oversees language as a national symbol by conducting policy transformation with three main focuses.
The first focus is linguistics and literature literacy by instilling a literacy culture, such as reading and writing habits in Indonesian society.
The second focus is the protection of regional languages from becoming extinct. Several efforts to preserve local languages encompass language mapping, the study of language vitality, conservation, revitalization, and registration.
In 2023, the language agency is prioritizing increasing the number of young speakers of local languages in the efforts to conduct language revitalization.
The third focus is the internationalization of Bahasa Indonesia through language diplomacy.
He explained that language diplomacy utilizes knowledge, resources, and strategies to develop and build good relations between Indonesia and other countries.
House member Sofyan Tan remarked that his side supports the priority programs in language and literature in Medan City as an effort to formulate policy recommendations by the language agency to the government.
Apart from Medan, the dissemination of information on the language priority programs in 2023 was also held in Purwakarta, Kutai Kartanegara, Sukabumi, Tegal District, and Samarinda City.
Head of the North Sumatra Language Agency Hidayat Widiyanto affirmed that the agency needs to establish room for public consultation, listen to feedback from community groups, and hold discussion forums with the community.
"This is done to encourage public participation in formulating government policies in the field of language," he remarked.
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Translator: Juraidi, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
