"(Indonesian language) has been the 10th official language of UNESCO. I believe this needs to be disseminated," Zon stated at the National Museum here on Thursday.
The minister said that the Indonesian language registered over 300 million speakers in various countries throughout the world.
He added, "Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor Leste, and Brunei are united by their lingua franca, the Indonesian or Malay language," referring to Malay, which has high mutual intelligibility with Indonesian.
The Indonesian language was recognized as the 10th official language of UNESCO on November 20, 2023, following the unanimous adoption of Resolution 42 C/28 during the 42nd Session of the UNESCO General Conference.
Meanwhile, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti spoke in Indonesian before the UNESCO assembly for the first time while delivering his remarks during the 43rd Session of the General Conference on Tuesday (November 4).
Outlining a series of education policies under President Prabowo Subianto, Mu'ti emphasized Indonesia’s belief that solutions to global challenges lie not only in power or economics, but also in enlightened human beings through education, science, and culture, as well as open communication and information.
"These fundamental values affirm Indonesia’s stance that education is a basic right of every child and that no one should be left behind,” he stated.
Mu'ti said the Indonesian government has launched the Quality Education for All policy as part of the 1945 Constitution’s mandate and President Prabowo Subianto’s Asta Cita vision and also initiated the Universal Movement to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
Among its key programs are the implementation of deep learning approaches promoting mindful, meaningful, and joyful education and the introduction of artificial intelligence, coding, and character education.
He also reported that school participation rates for children aged 7-12 and 13-15 have reached 99.19 percent and 96.17 percent, respectively.
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Translator: Sinta Ambarwati, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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