Kemendikdasmen Masih Kajati Penerapan Bahasa Portuguese Di Sekolah

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Elementary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) is still conducting studies on the application of Portuguese in schools.

Deputy Minister of Education and Culture Fajar Riza Ul Haq said the assessments carried out involved various parties including those from Commission X DPR RI.

"The Portuguese language is being discussed and reviewed and we are also listening to opinions from Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives. The discussion on Portuguese has been included in the ministry's internal agenda," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, November 4.

Fajar said the involvement of Commission X of the DPR was to ensure the right policy direction before the curriculum was implemented nationally.

He explained that his party even had an initial curriculum that could be used if later the policy was approved to be implemented.

"The point is, we already have a curriculum on this and are currently being studied whether it will be a subject of choice or mandatory because of course there are consequences," he said.

Fajar assessed that Portuguese has the strategic potential to become one of the introductory languages in the context of international conversation and global trade.

According to him, the Portuguese language ability will open up new opportunities for the younger generation of Indonesia to engage in cross-border interactions, especially with countries that have economic and historical relations with Indonesia.

"We realize that Portuguese will indeed be one of the introductory languages in the context of international and trade conversations," he said.

In addition to the economic aspect and globalization, Fajar explained that historical and cultural factors connect Indonesia with Portugal.

He said that the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) region and several areas in Eastern Indonesia have a cultural closeness to the Portuguese people.

According to him, the influence of the Portuguese can still be found in various aspects of people's lives in the area, including in everyday language.

Some of our regions have historical relationships with the Portuguese. NTT, for example, especially in Eastern Indonesia, which is very close. In fact, a lot of Portuguese language absorption is included in Indonesian," he explained.